The Activist Cancer Patient: How to Take Charge of Your Treatment

by Beverly Zakarian, Ezra M. Greenspan M.D. (Foreword by)

Overview

Improve Your Odds of Surviving Cancer

Cancer survivor Beverly Zakarian knows firsthand that you can improve your odds of surviving cancer if you take an active role in your treatment. Now, you too can discover the benefits of taking charge. After all, you and your disease are unique, and so is your path to good health. Even the most caring of doctors needs your help to determine which treatment is best for you.

With this inspiring, practical book, Beverly Zakarian gives you step-by-step guidelines that will empower you to work with your doctor and within the medical system to find the most effective treatment options. Armed with the resources in this book, you'll be able to use activist techniques to:
* Talk intelligently with your physician and make informed decisions
* Research state-of-the-art treatments
* Understand how drug trials actually work
* Discover what "experimental treatment" really means
* Search out relevant medical journals and access reliable databases
* Enlist the help of medical specialists and support groups

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781620455807
Publisher:	Trade Paper Press
Publication date:	04/01/1996
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	552 KB

About the Author

BEVERLY ZAKARIAN is Executive Director and a cofounder of CAN ACT (Cancer Patients Action Alliance), the first activist cancer-patient organization and the first to identify the critical role of the FDA in the survival of people with the disease. As the spokesperson for CAN ACT, Ms. Zakarian has represented patient views before Congress, the President's Cancer Panel, and the FDA, and has written numerous articles about treatment issues. Ms. Zakarian lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Table of Contents

Why Be an Activist Patient?
Cancer Tough: Taking Charge.
Getting Information on Treatment Options and Choices.
On the Cutting Edge: What You Should Know About Experimental Drugs.
Trick or Treatment: What No One Wants to Tell You About Clinical Trials.
The Drug Approval Process: Getting Around the Gate.
Managed Care or Managed Patients?
Reaching Out for Help.
The Empowered Patient: Doing Something About Cancer.
Recommended Reading.
Index.

Editorial Reviews

Zakarian, a cancer survivor and executive director of Cancer Patients Action Alliance (CAN-ACT), a nonprofit advocacy group, writes movingly about her own experience with cancer and her difficulties in receiving appropriate therapy. Her book teaches advocacy skills, empowering patients to insist on needed care through communication, understanding, and knowledge of the medical system. Zakarian also identifies resources for state-of-the-art information and clinical trials, explaining how such trials work and delineating the risks involved with unproven drugs. Zakarian gives tips on acquiring "orphan" or foreign drugs, advises on what to do if treatment is denied by a patient's HMO, and defines and encourages the use of social and emotional support groups. An essential purchase for healthcare collections.-Janet M. Schneider, James A. Haley Veterans Hosp., Tampa, Fl.

Library Journal