Dr. Donald Abrams is a cancer specialist and he is also an integrative physician. His background in integrative medicine is quite evident as he talks about the importance of nutrition and cancer.
The cancer treatments of chemotherapy or radiation are only part of the fight. Unlike some oncologists, Dr. Abrams is convinced that what you eat matters if you are battling cancer.
Dr. Abrams is chief of Hematology and Oncology at San Francisco General Hospital.
(Transcribed from video interview)
Dr. Abrams:
I would hope that women should expect their oncologist to be informed on nutrition and cancer, but I fear that, for the most part, the oncologist won’t be informed.
And in fact, I see many women who say that their oncologist says, “It doesn’t matter what you’re going to eat anyway because either the chemo or radiation is going to overcome it,” or “It just doesn’t matter; your prognosis is so poor, eat whatever you want,” and both of those attitudes I think are very unfortunate.
The reality of the situation is, most of us in medical school don’t learn much about nutrition. I learned about nutrition during my fellowship in integrative medicine and I happen to be living for the last 15 years with a macrobiotic chef so, my diet changed significantly 15 years ago, I think, for the better.
About Dr. Abrams, M.D.:
Dr. Donald I. Abrams, M.D., a cancer specialist, is director of clinical programs at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion. Abrams provides integrative medicine consultations for cancer patients and has completed research in complementary and alternative therapies including mind-body treatments, botanical therapies, medical use of marijuana and traditional Chinese medicine herbal therapies.
Visit Dr. Abrams at http://www.ucsfhealth.org/adult/cgi-bin/prd.cgi?action=DISPLAYDOCTOR&doctorid=28856
Video:
https://www.empowher.com/cancer/content/nutrition-and-cancer-should-oncologists-be-informed-dr-abrams-video