Metabolic Therapy
In this video, Francisco Contreras spends about 29 minutes speaking on "Metabolic Therapy" at the 30th Annual Cancer Convention held on Labor Day weekend by the Cancer Control Society.
About Dr. Francisco Contreras
Dr. Francisco Contreras serves as director, president and chairman of the Oasis of Hope Hospital. A distinguished oncologist and surgeon, Contreras is renowned for combining conventional and alternative medical treatments with emotional and spiritual support to provide patients with the most positive treatment experience possible.
Oasis of Hope was founded by Contreras’ father, Dr. Ernesto Contreras, Sr. in 1963, and since then the hospital has provided integrative cancer treatment for more than 100,000 patients.
As director, Contreras continues the practice of his father’s two fundamental principles – do no harm and treat the patient as yourself. Today, Contreras oversees the treatment of 800 cancer patients annually.
After graduating with honors from medical school at the Autonomous University of Mexico in Toluca, Contreras studied alternative therapy at the Oasis of Hope Hospital. He then completed his specialty in surgical oncology at the University of Vienna in Austria, where he also graduated with honors.
Contreras has authored and co-authored several books concerning integrative therapy, cancer and heart disease prevention and chronic illness, including “The Hope of Living Cancer Free,” “The Hope of Living Long and Well,” “Fighting Cancer 20 Different Ways” and “Dismantling Cancer.” His newest book with co-author Daniel E. Kennedy, “Hope, Medicine & Healing,” is scheduled for release in fall 2008.
In addition to writing for numerous medical journals, Contreras has participated in medical conferences such as the World Conference on Breast Cancer and is active in the Cancer Control Society. He has been a part of governmental organizations, including the Georgia House of Representatives Health Policy Task Force and the Japanese Medical Association. He has also been on special assignment to Slovakia as a member of the Mexican Health Advisory Board.
A qualified entry-level professional motorcycle racer, Contreras says that racing is similar to performing surgery in that it requires 100 percent focus. Contreras and his wife, Rosa, have four daughters and one son. The family attends church in Bonita, Calif., and enjoys skiing and travel.
Transcription
Good afternoon.
It's really a pleasure to be here with you, and this year we actually celebrated our thirty nine year of existence and we are very happy and proud of that. And this. Thirty nine years we have grown on the basis of of two major philosophical pillars. The first one, of course, is what hypocrisy said. First, do no harm. And the second pillar is what Jesus said, love your neighbor.
And as doctors, we should say love your patient as you love yourself. And this actually makes the practice of medicine quite easy, because as a doctor, you have a tremendous arsenal of drugs and procedures. And so when you ask yourself in front of a patient, am I going to harm the patient with any of this procedure as well? The list shortens importantly. And if you then ask, would I give this to my mom or to my daughter or to my wife? Well, depending on how you're doing with your wife, then the list gets even shorter and doesn't it? It just makes it a lot easier to treat the patient correctly. And based on those pillars in the criteria that my father and here's a picture of him a few years ago. He's 87 and sends his regards. He's not working anymore, but he's anxious to be doing a lot of things. And really, he started the work of oncology or the treatment of cancer by not worrying about the tumor, which was a very revolutionary.
And for many doctors, it's still a very revolutionary thing to say if you are a cancer specialist and you're not worried about tumors.
But he said instead of worrying about the tumor, I have to worry about the patient and I have to provide the patient with physical resources like antitumor therapies that are nontoxic or nonaggressive that will comply with those two pillars that I mentioned before.
And then more physical resources as far as providing the patient nutrients in foods and supplements that would improve the condition of the patients so that the patient themselves can get rid of tumor. But he didn't stop at that. Then he said we must, as doctors, provide to our patients emotional and spiritual resources only when you provide a patient with all of those resources. Then we'll they the patient patients be able actually to cure themselves. And because of that, in the last thirty nine years, we have grown tremendously from a one room office. The way my father started to this very beautiful and up to date, fifty five thousand square foot. And I have never understood why you say so many foot instead of