Cancer victim beats disease by using mistletoe instead of chemotherapy

A cancer victim who refused chemotherapy has beaten the disease - by using mistletoe instead. Joan van Holsteijn, 53, heard about the healing properties of the plant - better known for inspiring festive kisses - and rejected her doctor's advice of more conventional treatment.

Now the tumours in her leg are gone and she is on the road to recovery. "I owe my life to mistletoe," said Joan. "I feel so grateful and well.

"I've got my life back, thanks to the plant. I have never had it in the house before but I've got as prig of mistletoe at my front door." She was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, with a painful lump the size of an egg.


Photo from here.

Her specialist recommended chemotherapy, but Joan, of Milltimber, Aberdeenshire, said: "I was scared of chemo because you can become so ill from it.

"Usually patients try chemo then mistletoe, but I didn't want to do that." Joan had injections refined from the plant's berries which can help to kick-start the immune system at Park Attwood Clinic, Birmingham. In six months, the lump had shrunk. After 18 months that and her other tumours had gone.

The special needs therapist, who lives with husband Simon, 48, and daughter Lisa, 14, said: "Mistletoe is not a miracle cure, but I want others to know it's an option." A German study showed the plant as an additional treatment can increase survival time 40% by fighting the tumour, but other studies have raised doubts.