Guest guest Posted June 1, 2004 Report Share Posted June 1, 2004 Tue, 1 Jun 2004 11:03:50 -0500 HSI - Jenny Thompson Air-Tight Seal Air-Tight Seal Health Sciences Institute e-Alert June 1, 2004 ************************************************************ Dear Reader, Are you a naive babe in the woods? Are you unable to make your own decisions about your personal healthcare? If you answered yes (and I can't believe you did), then you'll be comforted to know that researchers at the Plymouth Peninsula Medical School in the UK have devised a plan to shield you from health information they deem to be outside the bounds of " conventional " treatment. It's like the cop who stands at a barricade and waves people off, telling them, " This area is closed, folks. Move along. " But in this case, the barricade doesn't keep you safe - in fact, it would end up doing the opposite by narrowing your health options. ----------------------------- Setting whose standards? ----------------------------- Here's the Plymouth plan: Create a " seal of approval " that would be given to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) web sites that only endorse cancer treatments that are supported by " good scientific evidence. " Sounds simple enough, right? And it would be, if everyone everywhere were in complete agreement on what constitutes good scientific evidence. And as you might suspect, the Plymouth perspective lands squarely in the medical mainstream. After reviewing 32 CAM web sites, researchers found three to be of " high risk " because they discouraged cancer patients from using conventional treatments. Of course, it's perfectly fine for a web site to discourage patients from using CAM treatments. Why? Because in the opinion of the Plymouth team, the treatments are not supported by what THEY deem to be good scientific evidence. The study (reported in Annals of Oncology) states: " Major cancer organizations and other impartial interest groups should investigate websites and create and administer a 'seal of approval', for safety and reliability. " And just how impartial do you suppose " major cancer organizations " are going to be in judging a web site that dares to question the use of chemotherapy and radiation therapy? Believe me, no cancer organization that can be classified as " major " (read: " mainstream " ) will tolerate any cancer protocol that doesn't embrace chemo and radiation. ----------------------------- Case study ----------------------------- The Plymouth team runs through a list of CAM treatments used for various types of cancer, easily brushing each one aside, stating that any existing research supporting the treatments is insufficient. When I was going over the list, one item that jumped out was laetrile - the controversial cancer treatment extracted from kernels of apricots and other fruits. The Plymouth study states " Clinical trials and animal studies have found no relevant benefit for cancer patients. " That's it. Case closed. Stay clear of laetrile. It's useless. But noted cancer researcher Ralph Moss, Ph.D., tells another story. In the mid-70s, Dr. Moss was the assistant director of public affairs at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (SK) in New York City. At that time, the Sloan-Kettering staff officially regarded laetrile as a " quack " treatment. So Dr. Moss was justifiably " astounded " when he discovered that SK's senior researcher - Dr. Kanematsu Sugiura - was studying laetrile and finding positive results. Even more amazing, one SK official sent his mother to Germany to receive laetrile cancer treatments, with an outcome that was reported as beneficial. And yet, Sloan-Kettering's leaders remained steadfastly opposed to using laetrile, following the mainstream mindset all the way. So if the Plymouth researchers should call on SK (obviously, a major cancer organization) to help administer the CAM web site seal of approval, you can imagine what the verdict would be for any site that advocated laetrile use. (By the way, Dr. Moss' web site, cancerdecisions.com, is an excellent resource for cancer treatment information - though a resource that probably would not receive the Plymouth seal of approval.) ----------------------------- Options narrowed ----------------------------- The intention of Plymouth plan is clear: Use the reassuring prestige of major cancer organizations to create an elitist, mainstream system designed to make patients believe that anything outside the approval of that system is dangerous. This plan gets my official seal of Narrow-Minded Thinking. Every cancer patient should be encouraged to weigh all of the options available - both mainstream and CAM - and then, with the advice of healthcare professionals they trust, follow the protocol that makes the most sense in their own situation. ************************************************************** To start receiving your own copy of the HSI e-Alert, visit: http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealert/freecopy.html Or forward this e-mail to a friend so they can sign-up to receive their own copy of the HSI e-Alert. ************************************************************** ... and another thing A case of shingles may last less than 10 days, but it's the post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN) that can hang on and cause considerable pain for long periods. Now research shows there may be an easy and natural way to get quick relief. In a study published in The American Journal of Medicine, researchers divided 30 adults suffering PHN into four groups. One group received topical treatments of geranium oil, while two groups received a mix of geranium oil and mineral oil (at ratios of 1 to 1 and 1 to 10), and a fourth group received only mineral oil. All of the subjects who received any amount of geranium oil reported pain reduction. And using a scale of zero (indicating no pain) to 100 (extreme pain), those who received treatments containing 100 percent geranium oil experienced the greatest pain relief. Little or no relief was reported by the placebo group, while relief was proportional to the amount of geranium oil in the other two groups: The more geranium oil, the greater the relief. Some subjects experienced a slight irritation from the geranium oil, but these irritations subsided within an hour or so. Injections of vitamin B-12 and topical applications of peppermint oil are also sometimes used to address PHN. More often, doctors prescribe anti-viral medications that sometimes take days to work, if they work at all. Geranium oil (extracted from the leaves, stalks and flowers of an Egyptian variety of geranium) has long been used as an anti-inflammatory and a fungicidal. So if you're diagnosed with shingles, prepare for the lingering pain that follows the healing of blisters by checking with your local health store for geranium oil. And - as always - check with your doctor or naturopathic healthcare professional before using any natural or over-the-counter treatment. To Your Good Health, Jenny Thompson Health Sciences Institute ************************************************************** To start receiving your own copy of the HSI e-Alert, visit: http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealert/freecopya.html Or forward this e-mail to a friend so they can sign-up to receive their own copy of the HSI e-Alert. ************************************************************** Sources: " Assessing Websites on Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Cancer " Annals of Oncology, Vol. 15, 2004, annonc.oupjournals.org " Alternative Cancer Web Sites Deemed 'Dangerous' " Reuters Health, 4/15/04, reutershealth.com " Forward to 'A Curious Man' - the Autobiography of Hans A. Nieper, M.D., Avery Press, ralphmoss.com " Temporary Relief of Postherpetic Neuralgia Pain with Topical Geranium Oil " The American Journal of Medicine " Vol. 115, No. 7, November 2003, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov " Geranium Oil Effective for Post-Shingles Pain " Darin Ingels, N.D., Healthnotes Newswire, 12/18/03, pccnaturalmarkets.com ************************************************************ Before you hit reply to send us a question or request, please visit here http://www.hsibaltimore.com/ealert/questions.html ************************************************************ If you'd like to participate in the HSI Forum, search past e-Alerts and products or you're an HSI member and would like to search past articles, visit http://www.hsibaltimore.com ************************************************************ Friends. Fun. Try the all-new Messenger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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