Doctors are finding that chronotherapy is more effective in treating a wide range of diseases

In a recent story on ABCnews.com, it was reported that “….. Many of our body’s internal processes are cyclical. There are daily patterns, such as waking and sleeping, monthly patterns, such as a woman’s menstrual cycle, and even seasonal patterns, such as those that cause seasonal affective disorder (SAD) during the winter months. But doctors have only begun to understand the impact of these rhythms on other conditions well enough to treat their patients more effectively. The idea that medical treatments can be improved based on when they are given to a patient is called chronotherapy. And by making use of this good timing, doctors are discovering that they are more effectively treating a wide range of conditions such as asthma, arthritis and cancer, all while reducing side effects. “

According to Dr. Michael Smolensky, co-author of The Body Clock Guide to Better Health, “When cancer drugs are given chronobiologically, patients can tolerate higher and more potent doses than would otherwise be possible.”

Keith Block, MD, one of the nation’s leading cancer specialists, has been using chronotherapy with his patients since 1999. “This method of delivering chemotherapy is revolutionary and has shown in large randomized trials its potential to improve survival,” he says Dr. Block, Dr. Block, who is also the Medical / Scientific Director of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care and Optimal Health in Evanston, Illinois. “Current research indicates that Cis-Platin is best administered between 4 and 6 pm, rather than at night, as recommended in the ABC News article. Adriamycin should peak at 4 am, with an infusion window of 4 to 6 am. found that patients receiving chronotherapy often reduce the recurring side effects of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and fatigue. This is important because the weakening caused by chemotherapy can cause patients to reduce or they even stop treatments that might otherwise help them win the battle with cancer. “

Randy López was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer at age 35. Fighting for his life, he underwent chemotherapy that left him weak and weak. In less than a year, she received more devastating news: the cancer had metastasized to her liver. The prognosis was grim. In fact, López and his doctors believed that time was running out. After working with Dr. Block and undergoing chronotherapy, Lopez, now 42, is cancer free. He will attend the September 30 national meeting of the Colon Cancer Alliance (CCA) in New York, where Dr. Block will address the CCA and explain how, while time was not on Randy’s side, time was literally the key to your successful recovery.

One of the main problems with this type of treatment has been logistics: figuring out how to give chemotherapy in exactly timed doses. Dr. Block has brought technology to the US that delivers chemotherapy through a pump designed to precisely synchronize up to four channels of infusion simultaneously to a patient’s individual needs. Highly portable and small enough to fit in a fanny pack, patients can maintain full mobility, play sports, and enjoy a full night’s sleep while receiving their specifically scheduled cancer therapy.

Keith I. Block, MD is Co-Founder and Medical / Scientific Director of the Block Center for Integrative Cancer Care and Optimal Health in Evanston, Illinois (www.blockmd.com). Block uses research-based treatment methodologies that combine the best of Western medicine with complementary treatments in nutritional pharmacology, psychotherapy, meditation, exercise, yoga, etc. Block is editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal, Integrative Cancer Therapies, published by SAGE Science Press and indexed in MEDLINE and Index Medicus. He serves as an assistant professor at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Medicine and an adjunct assistant professor of pharmacognosy (the branch of pharmacology that deals with drugs in their natural state and with medicinal herbs and other plants) at the UIC Faculty of Pharmacy. Additionally, Dr. Block participates in collaborative research with university facilities in the United States and Israel.