Cancer Treatment Programs

IHC provides the highest level of expertise in Naturopathic Oncology and Integrative Oncology in the country.  Dr. Gurdev Parmar, ND, FABNO is the first and only naturopathic physician to receive a Fellowship with the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology (FABNO) in Canada, working closely with medical oncologists over the past seven years.  Dr. Johan Ghazali, ND has also been working with cancer patients for the past seven years, starting his oncology work at Vancouver's Center for Integrated Healing.  Alongside our associates including medical doctors, chiropractors, massage therapists and counsellors, IHC is poised to provide the most well-rounded integrative approach available. 

Our primary goal is to provide complementary therapies to support conventional cancer treatments in a way that is safe and effective and not detrimental.  We help our patients create an environment of health both inside and outside their bodies.  We take a whole-person approach to cancer care, utilizing treatments that have been time-tested and are grounded in solid science, allowing the body to strengthen and heal itself.  We see patients at all stages of cancer care, from prevention, to alongside conventional treatments, to those patients that have completed treatment and are now dealing with side effects and wanting to minimize their risk of recurrence.

The primary goals for those patients undergoing conventional cancer treatments include: to support normal body function and metabolism during treatment; to decrease the side effects of treatments; to support and improve the immune system; to prescribe treatments and strategies towards future cancer prevention and health maintenance; and ultimately to improve the quality of life and the sense of wellness.

We acknowledge that the body has an inherent ability to establish, maintain and restore health (the vis medicatrix naturae), and that all healing processes are ordered and intelligent.  Our goal is to facilitate this process by identifying and removing any obstacles to the patient's health and recovery.  

Our treatments will include personalized natural therapies backed by scientific research to fortify you before, during and after your cancer treatment.  In addition, we monitor our patient's supplement and vitamin intake to ensure safety from potential drug-herb and drug-nutrient interactions.  ND's are the most highly qualified medical professonals in this regard.  We work closely with oncologists and other members of the cancer care team to closely monitor the progress of your treatments.

Dr's Parmar and Ghazali also provide regular educational classes to supplement the personalized plans for patients.  Classes include subjects such as vitamin and mineral supplements and I.V infusions, natural remedies, nutritional guidance, lifestyle changes, stress management techniques and strategies for long-term prevention of recurrence. 

Food as medicine is a cornerstone of naturopathic practice.  We provide in-depth dietary and nutritional analysis for all cancer patients.  Thus, in our talks we share the most recent research on foods proven useful in cancer management.  In fact, some conditions are treated more effectively with foods and nutritional supplements than by other means, with fewer complications and side effects.  

We also talk about botanical medicines - there are many plant substances proven to be powerful medicines able to address a variety of problems simultaneously.  Further, their organic nature makes most botanicals compatible with the body's own chemistry allowing them to work gently with few toxic side effects.  Of course always aware of possible drug-herb interactions.

IHC utilizes many other modalities to aid our cancer patients healing.  We offer acupuncture to stimulate the immune system and healing processes.  Homeopathic remedies (i.e., plant extracts and minerals) may also be used to stimulate healing and complement your traditional cancer treatment options.  We often recommend therapeutic manipulation of the muscles, bones and spine.  We refer regularly to our resident chiropractor and Shiatsu massage therapist.  As mental attitudes and emotional states influence, or even cause, physical illness, we also refer most of our cancer patients to our resident clinical counsellors for stress management techniques and other therapies to help patients heal psychologically.