What Doctors Don’t Tell You - E-News Broadcast No. 99 - 23 September, 2004

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WDDTY e-News Service - 23 September 2004

Thu, 23 Sep 2004 21:54:44 +0100

 

WHAT DOCTORS DON'T TELL YOU - E-NEWS BROADCAST No. 99 - 23 September 2004

 

Please feel free to email this broadcast to any friends you feel would

appreciate receiving it.

 

 

DANIEL IN THE LION'S DEN: Do Rosy's claims for a cancer (treatment)

cure stack up?

 

Anyone who claims a cure for cancer faces the vitriol of a medical

establishment that has struggled in vain to combat the disease. In

the UK there's even an Act of Parliament that prevents anyone other

than a doctor from making such a claim.

 

So we have to admire the courage of Dr Rosy Daniel, former head of the

pioneering Bristol Cancer Help Centre, who is staking her reputation

on an Indian herbal treatment that she believes could well be

medicine's holiest of grails - a cure for cancer.

 

The remedy she's promoting is Carctol, a herbal formulation developed

by Dr Nandlal Tiwari of Rajasthan, India, who has been treating cancer

patients with it for 20 years. He has case files of 1,900 patients

treated with Carctol, many of whom had been considered beyond medical

help. According to Tiwari's own records, 25 per cent of patients

reported a 75 per cent to 100 per cent improvement in their condition

while taking Carctol, and 30 per cent reported up to 75 per cent

improvement (although it's not clear what these percentages mean, or

how they were measured). Carctol appears to be especially effective

in treating gastro-intestinal and haemotological cancers.

 

Dr Daniel has been using the remedy since 2000 as an alternative

practitioner, and has prescribed it to 860 patients, a quarter of whom

were helped, and half were helped 'to some extent', she says - but,

again, these are vague terms that are difficult to measure.

 

Carctol is made up of Hemidesmus Indcus, Tribulus Terrestris, Piper

Cubeba Linn, Ammani Vesicatroria, Lepidium Sativum Linn, Blepharis

Edulis, Smilax China Linn, and Rheum Emodi Wall. Two capsules are

taken four times a day. Dr Tiwari also recommends a vegetarian diet,

and prohibits sour and acidic food and drink, and the patient must

drink up to six pints of boiled, refrigerated water a day. A patient

also has to take a digestive enzyme with the remedy.

 

None of the herbs in the formulation is a cancer fighter, so Dr Daniel

assumes there must be a synergistic effect. Several herbs in Carctol

are classed as medicines in the UK, and so only a doctor can prescribe

the remedy.

 

Nobody seems too clear how Carctol works, but it's thought to change

the body's pH from acid to alkaline. It's designed to strengthen the

immune system, neutralize toxicity from chemotherapy, support liver

and kidney function, and improve digestion.

 

Dr Daniel's claims for Carctol have enraged the medical establishment,

which says she is irresponsible for raising false hopes, and making

assertions that are based on scant scientific data.

 

It costs many millions of pounds to produce scientific evidence that

would satisfy the medical establishment, and clearly neither Tiwari

nor Daniel has that sort of money.

 

And nobody seems too keen to point out that chemotherapy has an

overall success rate of just 3 per cent. Not that that makes Daniel's

claims any more valid - but in the name of humanity, surely some means

can be put in place to test her beliefs, even if for once a

pharmaceutical company doesn't benefit.

 

* What does really work in treating cancer? Discover all the proven

therapies in our Cancer Handbook. It provides definitive evidence on

all the major treatments, both conventional and alternative. To order

your copy, :

http://www.wddty.co.uk/shop/details.asp?product=8

 

 

 

VACCINE LINKED TO MS: New study confirms worst suspicions over the

hepatitis B jab

 

After years of speculation, it's finally been confirmed that the

hepatitis B vaccine causes multiple sclerosis (MS). Researchers from

Harvard estimate that it increases the risk by over three times, but

they're not sure if the vaccine causes MS in those prone to it, or if

it just speeds its progress.

 

This link may also mean that the vaccine could cause other serious

auto-immune diseases, as many have suspected.

 

Suspicions were first raised around 10 years ago when 200 people in

France developed MS shortly after being given the hepatitis B vaccine.

But an earlier Harvard study, published in 2001, could find no link.

Since then several members of the original research team have voiced

their concerns that their conclusions may have been wrong.

 

This time the Harvard team has been more emphatic, and has even said

that the benefits of the vaccine only might outweigh the risks. In

medicalese, that's a very big 'might'.

 

(Source: Neurology, 2004; 63: 838-42).

 

 

 

MMR AND AUTISM: Is it game over?

 

Many parents remain concerned about a possible link between the MMR

vaccine and autism, despite the latest research. Health officials

have chosen to ignore a far bigger study that proved that the vaccine

increased the risk of autism by nearly nine times - a study that was

carefully ignored by doctors and the media. So what is the truth?

What Doctors Don't Tell You is staging a major conference at the end

of October to give you the facts that you aren't getting from the

media or the government. Speakers on the day include Dr Carol Stott

of Cambridge University and a close associate of Dr Andrew Wakefield,

Paul Shattock of the Autism Research Unit and Lynne McTaggart, editor

of What Doctors Don't Tell You. To find out more and to book your

place, :

http://www.wddty.co.uk/shop/details.asp?product=405

 

 

 

OLD HORIZON: Vitamin programme was unbalanced

 

Most journalists like to play it safe when it comes to reporting

science and medicine. It's a human enough reaction - they don't want

to appear stupid if they get it wrong when they stick their necks out.

Depressingly, this means the status quo is rarely if ever challenged.

 

This was amply demonstrated last week by BBC journalists on the

prestigious Horizon programme, which raised serious doubts about the

use of vitamins to maintain health.

 

The programme looked at just three vitamin groups: vitamins A (retinal

and beta-carotene), C and E. It produced a fair deal of old evidence

that pointed out, among other things, that smokers are more likely to

get lung cancer, despite taking vitamin A, and that vitamin C can only

help reduce the symptoms once you've got a cold.

 

This would hardly seem damning, but the use of sinister music and

images made it seem as though vitamin bottles contained weapons of

mass destruction (aah, so that's where they're hidden).

 

Instead, the journalists peddled the old line that everyone can get

all the nutrients they need from a balanced diet, forgetting to point

out that depleted soil has eroded the goodness of our food.

 

Still, it prepares a nation for the day next year when many high-dose

vitamins suddenly disappear from the shops, courtesy of an EU clamp-down.

 

One nice thing about the BBC is that if at least 10 people complain

about any programme, the corporation has to launch an inquiry, so let

your fingers do the talking. If you feel the programme was unbalanced

or against the public interest, you can make a complaint via:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/info/contactus/serious_form.shtml. Written

complaints can also be sent to: Head of Programme Complaints, BBC

Broadcasting House, London W1A 1AA. You'll be asked to give full

details about the programme, which are: BBC2, The Truth About

Vitamins, 16 September, 9pm.

 

* What is the truth about vitamins? Which makes are the most

effective? How many do you need to take in order to maintain good

health? These questions, and many more besides, are answered in our

Good Supplement Guide.

 

 

 

STATISTIC OF THE WEEK

 

Virtually every doctor and practice nurse polled by the charity

Cholesterol UK did not know that a high cholesterol level was not the

most important risk factor in heart disease. A shocking statistic if

you happen to be a doctor, as that's stage one healthcare - but

perfectly understandable if you happen to be a regular WDDTY reader as

you'd know cholesterol is one of medicine's great red herrings of the

last century.

 

 

 

DRUGS THAT LEAD TO DIABETES: Antipsychotic manufacturers forced to

issue new warning

 

Antipsychotic drugs, often used to treat schizophrenia, can cause

hyperglycemia and diabetes, a new alert has revealed.

 

First off the mark with a new warning is Geodon (ziprasidone), which

urges doctors to think carefully about prescribing the drug to any

patient who is at greater risk of developing diabetes through family

history or obesity. Patients should begin a fast if they develop

hyperglycaemia while on the drug - or, heaven forbid, they could just

stop taking the drug. When drug treatment is stopped, the problem

tends to go away, the warning admits.

 

Other reactions already known include irregular heart rhythms or

palpitations, loss of consciousness, nausea, constipation, and

abnormal muscle movements including tremor.

 

(Source: Food and Drug Administration web site)