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Summit to Cure Lung Cancer Raises Funds for Complementary Medicine Research
Renowned Mountain Climber Ed Viesturs to Participate in Climb
DENVER (Aug. 18, 2004) — Physicians, clinical workers, family members, neighbors and friends of those with lung cancer will hike 14,270 feet up Grays Peak on Saturday to raise funds for research on complementary and alternative treatments for lung cancer.
Money raised from the 6th Annual "See You at The Top" Summit to Cure Lung Cancer will be used to advance research, education and clinical therapies at the University of Colorado Hospital's Center for Integrative Medicine.
The center, which opened in December 2001, is the first of its kind in the region and one of only a handful in the country housed in an academic institution. The center is distinct in that it fosters collaboration among patients, their physicians, therapists and other complementary medicine clinicians that advise them.
A portion of the money raised from the climb will fund a grant to study the effectiveness of complementary and integrative approaches to lung cancer treatment, which include yoga, traditional Chinese medicine, massage therapy and biofeedback, as a complement to standard cancer treatments.
"These funds have allowed us to do things we might not have been otherwise able to do," said Venus Mann, administrator of the Center for Integrative Medicine and a cancer survivor. "We are proud to be among an elite few centers in the nation that are integrating complementary approaches into conventional care."
Ethel Mendel and her family established the Mendel-Asarch Family Lung Cancer Foundation in 1998 during her fight with lung cancer. The foundation is donating $250,000 over five years to the Center for Integrative Medicine. Recently, the foundation funded a grant to study how massage therapy can decrease pain, improve quality of life and reduce symptoms of distress for patients with lung cancer, which helped to seed a 1.2 million dollar NIH grant to the University of Colorado for continued similar research.
The family is donating to the center because Ethel was a firm believer in complementary medicine and wanted a single source for all of the best modalities of complementary and alternative medicine care. Among those participating in the climb include renowned mountain climber Ed Viesturs, who has climbed many of the world's most challenging summits and is a record holder for ascending Mount Everest six times, and Sean Swarner, 29, a Hodgkin's and Askin's disease survivor who formed the Cancer Climber Association. Swarner, a Boulder resident, is determined to summit each continent's highest peaks, and atop each summit he climbs, he places his organization's flag, which reads "dedicated to all those affected by cancer, in this small world, keep climbing."
Viesturs will give a special slide show presentation and share his experiences and adventures on Friday, Aug. 20, at 6 p.m. at the King Academic and Performing Arts Center Concert Hall, located on the Auraria Campus for Higher Education in Denver. Viesturs will also sign copies of his books and posters, which will be for sale at the event. Admission to the slide show is a $25 tax-deductible donation to The Mendel-Asarch Family Lung Cancer Foundation, and tickets can be purchased online at http://www.seeyouatthetop.org/maclimb/slideShow.jsp.
The See You at the Top climb begins at 5:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 21st. The entry fee is $25 for those who have pre-registered, or $35 for day-of registration, in addition to a minimum pledge raised of $75. Participants will receive a souvenir gift of the climb based on their collected pledge amounts, and there will be a post-climb lunch celebration where participants can have their photos taken and view photos from last year's event.
Those interested in joining the hike can register at the base of Grays Peak the day of the climb or in advance at www.seeyouatthetop.org. For more information on the Center for Integrative Medicine visit www.uch.edu/integrativemed.
University of Colorado Hospital is the Rocky Mountain region's only academic tertiary care and referral center, and has been recognized as one of America's best hospitals, according to U.S News & World Report. Located in Denver and Aurora, Colo., the hospital is part of the University of Colorado Denver campus, one of three campuses in the University of Colorado system. For more information, visit the Web site at www.uch.edu.