About the author
Patricia Peat is the UK’s leading expert on Integrative Medicine for cancer, or Integrative Oncology. She is the founder and principal of Cancer Options, a specialist consultancy set up to support people in building their own programmes of integrative care. Cancer Options has been working in partnership with Yes to Life for the last eight years, providing personalised support to people with cancer.
The other contributors
Patricia Peat introduces us to the book, adds material throughout and concludes it. The remainder of The Cancer Revolution was written by 37 international experts from a huge range of Integrative Medicine fields. Household names such as Jason Vale, Janey Lee Grace and Shazzie rub shoulders with oncologists such as Prof Robert Thomas, Prof Shimon Slavin and Dr Maurice Orange, scientists such as Dr Robert Verkerk and Prof Jane Plant and integrative doctors and practitioners such as Dr Francisco Contreras, Dr Damien Downing and Dr Xandria Williams – to name just a few! It’s hard to convey the extraordinary wealth of expertise and clinical experience that is captured between the covers of The Cancer Revolution.
Importantly, while each contributor has been allowed to preserve their own ‘voice’ and style – oncologist Prof Robert Thomas presents his material in a very different way to author and media presenter Janey Lee Grace for example – great attention has been paid to making all the material consistently accessible to general readers. Although underpinned by scientific research and necessarily covering much material of a technical nature, this is decidedly not a text book, nor one of those overwhelming ‘cancer bibles’.
A unique project
The Cancer Revolution has been several years in the making and is in many ways a completely unique book, but perhaps its most striking feature is that all 38 contributors, along with our talented designer Bina Tarulli, our editorial consultant Ruth Thackeray and a host of others, have donated their effort and expertise entirely free, making it possible for the proceeds of sales to go entirely to Yes to Life to help the charity provide direct support to people in obtaining Integrative Medicine.
Unusual features
The Cancer Revolution has many features designed to increase the accessibility of the mine of information it contains.
Therapeutic Target Icons: A really unique feature, these icons represent 9 treatment targets that a reader may want to achieve, such as hormone control or immune stimulation. Throughout the book, any section providing information about achieving these targets has a margin icon to indicate this. A handy reference of the icons is featured on a fold-out back-cover flap along with a list of the pages on which they appear.
Glossary: The back flap is also home to a glossary of all the cancer-specific words in the book. Cancer is a world with a language of its own. Rather than either avoiding unfamiliar words, or explaining them every time they appear, they are marked in blue with an explanation on the back flap. The intention is that they quickly become part of a reader’s vocabulary, enabling them to gain a better understanding of their oncologist, practitioners and reports.
QR codes: The margins also feature QR codes, which enable readers with a smartphone installed with a QR Reader app to instantly access a relevant website.
Boxed texts: Boxes are used throughout the book to highlight different types of information.
• Science Boxes contain slightly more complex material that will be of interest to some but not all readers
• Self-Help Boxes feature techniques that are safe to try yourself without the need for professional help
• My Story Boxes bring personal experiences of the approaches being described
• Mythbuster Boxes highlight some common misconceptions about cancer and cancer treatment, and ‘bust’ them
What’s inside
The Cancer Revolution is divided into eight Parts. After Part One has introduced readers to the territory, Parts Two and Three cover essential knowledge of the ways nutrition, exercise, stress and sunshine affect our physical and mental wellbeing; Part Four looks at the many ways in which we absorb toxins from our environment, and what we can do about it; and in Part Five, an oncologist provides inside information on getting the most from your oncology team, alongside an outline of the tests available both from the NHS and from elsewhere; Part Six concludes the main text, while Part Seven is a collection of Appendices which include material from the Medical Directors of some of the world’s top integrative clinics; an overview of scanning techniques and the risks and benefits of each; guidance as to when to consult a practitioner; and even some advice on managing your finances when you have cancer! Part Eight contains no less than 40 pages of resources, organised into further reading and weblinks relating to each chapter, for easy reference.
A beautiful book
The Cancer Revolution is a book you’ll want to pick up again and again. It’s put together in such a way that, once you have the Introduction and Part One under your belt, you can dip in wherever your needs or interest take you. And whenever you do dip in you’ll find the stunning and colourful craftsmanship of our talented designer, Bina Tarulli, who has contributed so much to making The Cancer Revolution into a book that will also make a wonderful gift for your friends and particularly anyone contending with a cancer diagnosis.