The Deadly Hazards of Cancer-Cure

[Guest guest]

Watch out for those dangerous vitamins, minerals and

herbs!!!! But those chemical pills?.... why they are

downright good for ya. From the...We can make the

people believe anything dept. F.

 

 

http://campaignfortruth.com/Eclub/240804/CTM%20-%20deadly%20hazards%20of%20cance\

r%20cure.htm

 

The Deadly Hazards of Cancer-Cure

by Sam Lister

 

An investigation is being urged of online sites that

offer treatments with no scientific backing.

 

Thousands of cancer patients are risking their health

by following the advice of alternative therapy

websites that promote bogus cures, a leading expert in

complimentary medicine said yesterday.

 

Edzard Ernst, Britain's only professor of

complementary medicine, who is based at the University

of Exeter, called for Government guidance to steer

patients away from treatments promoted on the internet

that were not supported by a " shred of evidence " .

 

He said that in some cases patients were hastening

their own deaths by rejecting conventional treatment.

 

In a study of 32 of the most popular alternative and

complimentary therapy websites, which attract tens of

thousands of visitors every day, researchers found

dozens of so-called remedies that are promoted as

curing or preventing cancer, including shark

cartilage, coffee enemas, mistletoe and apricot

extracts. But none of the treatments and approaches

promoted online had been shown definitively to cure or

prevent the disease, Prof Ernst said.

 

He and Katja Schmidt, the co-author of the study

report, found that in 3 per cent of cases the websites

actively discouraged patients from using conventional

cancer treatments, and 16 per cent did the same

indirectly through information they provided.

 

One British-based website was judged to be offering

advice where definite harm was conceivable, while two

American sites were also categorized as potentially

harmful. Another six of the sites were considered to

be of some conceivable harm to cancer patients. " This

was, to us, quite an eye-opener and pretty scary

stuff, " Professor Ernst said. " We found that between

these 30-odd sites, 118 different cancer 'cures' were

recommended, complementary treatment that claimed to

be able to cure cancer. Not everything that is natural

is risk-free. People should use their common sense and

think twice about the motives of these websites. If it

sounds too good to be true, it probably is. You cannot

believe ridiculous promises and claims. "

 

He said that a further 59 preventive treatments were

recommended, but again there was no evidence that any

of them worked. Two prime examples were shark

cartilage and laetrile, which is made from apricot

stones. In the first case, the demand for ground up

shark fins has brought two species of shark close to

extinction, Professor Ernst said. Yet there was no

evidence that it helped to cure patients.

 

An estimated 40,000 complimentary therapists,

registered and unregistered, are thought to be

practising in the UK, and about a quarter of the

British population is believed to use a complimentary

treatment in any given year. In the US, the figure is

60 per cent and in Germany, as high as 75 per cent.

" If you take patient populations, these figures can be

very close to 100 per cent, " Professor Ernst said. A

recent survey showed that one in five patients took

herbal remedies without their GP's knowledge. Ten per

cent of patients were found to be taking both

warfarin, a prescription medication for thinning the

blood, and a herbal therapy known to react dangerously

with that drug.

 

Professor Ernst said that many doctors were woefully

ignorant about the potential risks of complementary

treatments, especially with regard to their

interaction with conventional medicines. He said

pharmacists also need better training. The Professor,

who has run the Complementary Medicine Peninsular

Medical School for ten years, said that in that time a

handful of complementary therapies had been shown

scientifically to be beneficial.

 

Examples include ginko biloba, which delayed the

progression of senile dementia; hawthorn, which could

help patients with congestive heart failure; garlic,

which lowered cholesterol levels; feverfew, which

helped to prevent migraine attacks; and peppermint,

which reduced symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

 

Last night, George Georgiou, a herbal therapist from

St Albans, rejected Professor Ernst's claims. He said

that his website, which has more than 40,000 visits a

month, had never received any serious complaints from

users.

 

" Why are we not shouting about the side-effects of

some conventional medications which can be huge

killers? " he said. " Why would all these people be

buying these products if they were not working? The

fact is, we are living in a democracy, and people have

the right to choose. "

 

The Department of Health said that the regulation of

complementary medicine and advice on good practice

remained a continuing concern.

 

Proposals for the statutory regulation of herbal

medicine and acupuncture practitioners were published

in March, and results from consultations are still

being assessed.

Times (UK), 3rd August 2004

 

PHILLIP DAY'S COMMENT: Well, folks, here he is again,

Edzard Ernst, Britain's only 'Professor of

Complementary Medicine', who spends most of his days

rubbishing complementary medicine on behalf of his

string-pullers. The only way the drug industry can end

the threat to its profits is by casting doubt and

accusation against unpatented medicine, predictably

resorting to a 'complementary medicine professor' who

unbelievably declares that all alternative remedies

are quackery, for by definition, if they worked, they

would be used in orthodox medicine.

 

But, you all know the script. Edzard Ernst is rightly

declared a menace to public health, but he is getting

the column inches. The UK Times, which published the

above, would like to hear from everyone about this

issue. What do you think about Edzard Ernst? Should

medicine be left to the health professionals? Drop 'em

a line.

 

If you are not sure about the controversy surrounding

medicine's failure to combat cancer with radiation and

drugs (and many other diseases for that matter), pick

up a book from our book-store and have a browse

through the previous EClub articles we have published

on the subject.

 

Further Resources:

 

Cancer: Why We're Still Dying to Know the Truth by

Phillip Day

Wake up to Health in the 21st Century by Steven Ransom

 

Click here to purchase or review any of the above.

Click here for telephone sales around the world.

Click here if you wish to contact Credence for

information on treatment options or resources.

 

Previous Articles:

 

CANCER: WHO CAN WE TRUST? Is the medical establishment

'winning the war on cancer?' How safe are alternative

treatments compared to chemo and radiation? Can we

trust the information about cancer we are given in the

media?

 

THE CANCER CHARITIES: Steven Ransom presents an

in-depth look inside the cancer charities and big drug

companies and unravels a littany of vested interests

and manipulation of information.

 

CHEMO(TOXICO)THERAPY: A candid view of this commonly

prescribed treatment and the harsh fact of expert and

subtle manipulation behind the oft-quoted 'success'

statistics.

 

CANCER: An excerpt from Phillip Day's ABC's of

Disease.

 

MAMMOGRAPHY - MORE PROBLEMS: The false positive rate

of mammograms, those patients without cancer but with

a positive finding on testing, turns out to be another

problem. Only one biopsy in six was found to be

positive for cancer when done on the basis of a

positive mammogram or breast examination.

 

THE NITRILOSIDES IN PLANTS AND ANIMALS: Ernst T Krebs

Jr. discusses the active, anti-cancer role of the

Vitamin B17 nitrilosides in the plant and animal

kingdoms.

 

DEATH BY MEDICINE: A group of researchers meticulously

reviewed the statistical evidence and their findings

are absolutely shocking. The result is a paper

entitled " Death by Medicine " that presents compelling

evidence that today's (medical) system frequently

causes more harm than good.

 

IS LAETRILE (B17) USELESS? A collection of documented

case studies showing results of cancer treatment using

B17 in response to recent claims in the media that it

is useless.

 

MORE PROBLEMS WITH CHEMO AND RADIOTHERAPY: An excerpt

from B17 Metabolic Therapy detailing the common

perceptions of cancer and conventional treatments vs

the reality of the situation.

 

CANCER THE NEW APPROACH: A look at some of the doctors

who took a different view of the probable causes of

cancer and their experiences using B17 metabolic

therapy to treat their patients.

 

BREAST CANCER DRUG THAT RAISES SURVIVAL RATES BY A

THIRD: Once again a bright and rosy picture is painted

and a new drug hailed a success. However, perhaps we

should read the 'fine print' before opening the

bubbly.

 

THE REAL HEALTH SCARE: Recently the UK's Daily

Telegraph published an Opinion entitled 'The Real

Health Scare', wherein alternative approaches to

disease were given the usual panning. Here, one CTM

member certainly felt the newspaper had simply gone a

pill too far.

 

CANCER BOY'S PARENTS WIN 'AMPUTATION' FIGHT: A couple

who lost custody of their young son to social services

after insisting that his bone cancer was treated using

alternative medicine last week won a lengthy legal

battle to get him back.

 

MEDICINE OR CHEMICAL WARFARE? Author Steve Ransom

discusses the horrors of gas weapons used in the two

world wars and the alarming parallels to modern

chemotherapy.

 

OUR HEREDITARY SUBMISSIVE ATTITUDE? A discussion into

the mental state of the newly diagnosed cancer

patient, the rush to conventional treatment, and the

phenomenon of our unquestioning submission.

 

THE MERCHANTS: In this excerpt from Great News on

Cancer in the 21st Century, Steve Ransom unveils the

ties between the pharmaceutical industry and governing

bodies as well as the industry's stranglehold on

medical academia.