My amazing friend and hero Zachary Domenic Nichols Scarpaci (20) passed away

December 3rd of 2015 after fighting against Glioblastoma for 27 months straight. Zachary was
going to be a pharmacist; he was a member of the National Honor Society, and loved cars;
especially mustangs. The past two years have been a struggle for Zacks family. Zacks brother
Wayne is currently attending a school for holistic medicine, to become a holistic doctor in the
hopes to be able to help others who suffer from horrible diseases. If only we had known more
about this medicine we may have been able to save Zachary; or even Logan (17) and Stephanie
(13) who passed away this past May from Glioblastoma. Glioblastoma or GBM is a very rare
form of brain cancer, it affects less than 100,000 people in the United States each year.
According to The American Brain Tumor Association, the life expectancy of someone fighting
this aggressive cancer is 14.6 months or less; and most GBM patients dont make it into
remission. Children are forty percent more likely to be affected by brain cancers. Traditional and
protocol cancer treatments are actually more likely to kill a patient than the cancer. It is
unfortunate that this is the treatment that most cancer patients will go through, however, if the
patients knew just how horrible their quality of life would be with these treatments they would,
without a doubt, refuse any treatment at all.With proper funding for cancer research, holistic and
naturopathic medicine will offer cancer patients a better quality of life,a much longer life, and in
some cases even a cure to their cancer.
Every cancer is different; and every treatment should be tailored to each individual's case.
However, anyone that is diagnosed with a Glioblastoma (GBM) is told the same thing; that the
cancer itself must be removed. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine for Neurology, Surgery
is the most common initial treatment for gliomas. A biopsy taken during surgery provides tissue

samples to the pathologist, who will then be able to make an accurate diagnosis of the tumor's
composition, which is critical to getting the best treatment. Surgery can also allow for the
removal of tumor tissue to relieve pressure in the brain caused by the tumor. This often needs to
be done on an urgent basis. Brain structures are extremely complicated, each section controls a
different part of the body: hearing, speech, and motor skills, making the surgery extremely
difficult. Operating on a cancerous tumor is extremely dangerous; during the operation cancer
cells will most likely be released into the bloodstream which can cause the cancer to spread
throughout the body or allow it to regrow in the brain. After the initial surgery the patients will
most likely go through series of Chemotherapy and Radiation treatments in the hopes to kill off
the cancer cells, which it most cases it really never does. Chemotherapy.com desrcibes chemo as,
A type of treatment that includes a drug or combination of drugs to treat cancer. The goal of
chemo is to stop or slow the growth of cancer cells. Chemotherapy is considered a systemic
therapy. This means it may affect your entire body. Chemo drugs target rapidly growing cancer
cells, but they can also affect healthy cells that grow rapidly. The effect of these drugs on both
cancer and normal cells often causes side effects. The side effects of chemo can affect hair,
nails, digestive systems, blood, and skin. Chemotherapy can damage or even destroy organs in
your body including: the brain, liver, ect.
Holistic and Naturopathic medicine may be able to offer a more successful and a much
healthier treatment course for pediatric brain cancer patients, with little to no side effects.
Childrens bodies can be harmfully affected by Pharmaceutical drugs. However, natural medicine
will benefit children with absolutely no side effects. Holistic medicine is characterized by the
treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the
physical symptoms of a disease. With holistic medicines the patient can be made aware of how

their quality of life will be affected. Every cancer patient should know just what theyre getting
into in their treatments. Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a system of medicine based on
the healing power of nature. Naturopathy is a holistic system, meaning that naturopathic doctors
(N.D.s) or naturopathic medical doctors (N.M.D.s) strive to find the cause of disease by
understanding the body, mind, and spirit of the person. A lot of people are now turning to holistic
and natural medicines for cancer cures. Here is a look at some of the possible remedies referred
to by Wayne Nichols whom is studying Holistic and Naturopathic medicine at The University of
The Sciences. It is little known that essential oils like Frankincense, Lavender, Myrrh, Clove,
Oregano, and Lemon, all fight cancer. Frankincense has the most science and anecdotal evidence
behind it, but all essential oils have anti-cancer properties. Another cancer suring prospect is
Curcumin. This turmeric extract is very powerful against tumors, cancer, and inflammation.
Inflammation is very common with brain cancers and can cause painful pressure to the back of
the head. Curcumin can be used to treat and even alleviate this pain. Wayne also spoke of The
Hyperbaric Oxygen treatment. This new treatment focuses on that fact that cancer is anaerobic.
The treatment consists of a chamber that increases oxygen to the body, helping fight cancer and
helping to reduce inflammation. There is also a Reishi Mushroom extract that has been shown in
a study to increase cells oxygen levels by 40 percent that is also helping to fight cancer. There
are little known simple daily changes that helps can be made to prevent cancer. One of them
being drinking high pH water and adding baking soda and lemon juice your daily water. This will
boost the body's pH level to alkaline. Since cancer is only present in an acidic environment, the
cancer will die thus leaving the patient healthy.
Holistic and Naturopathic medicine offers a lot of new treatments to children suffering
with brain cancers. However, there is not enough funding going into new cancer treatments for

children to actually look into these treatments. A lot of money each year is donated to the fight
against cancer; however according to foundations such as The Saint Baldrick's foundation, only
four percent of that money goes to researching childhood or pediatric cancers. Cancer kills over
2,500 children every year, and over 13,500 kids will be diagnosed with cancer this year. Those
these numbers are significant, the potential market is too small to attract any attention. This
makes the role of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) especially critical, yet approximately four
percent of its budget goes to childhood cancer. The result is that children are dying everyday
waiting for promising new treatments that lack proper funding. This puts an extra burden on
families with a child battling childhood cancer. Although many families are devastated
financially they have no choice but to run bake sales, car washes, and other fundraisers to be able
to care for their child. Meanwhile the NCI controls the billions of taxpayer dollars yet it only
releases a fraction of its resources to to specifically help children with cancer. The most
promising cancer treatments are through trails and clinics that offer new perspectives on treating
pediatric cancer. The problem is that many children are still dying because almost all progress on
pediatric cancer has been stagnant for the last ten year due to major funding gaps.
With proper funding for cancer research, holistic and naturopathic medicine will offer
pediatric cancer patients a better quality of life,a much longer life, and in some cases even a cure
to their cancer. The National Cancer Institute needs to re-evaluate where their funding is going,
children suffering with brain cancer are the future of our country, and world!