Someone who has been a part of my life for the last 15 years died today, at the age of just 66.
Not wishing to invade his family’s privacy, I will refer to him only as G.
G was diagnosed with cancer a year ago and was “treated” with repeated bouts of chemo.
I feel incredibly sad and angry right now, knowing that G put his faith in orthodox medicine and continued to trust he was getting the best “treatment” available as he was pumped full of deadly poison day after day – with precisely nothing done, at any time, to actually support the health of his body.
I’m not saying his cancer could have been cured. I don’t know whether it could have. But the best modern medicine had to offer him (in common with so many patients) was intravenous administration of extremely hazardous substances (more on that below) and that, to me, is a travesty.
Chemotherapy. Chemo“therapy”? The term itself is rather a confusing misnomer.
It’s not therapy – a word whose dictionary definition is “a treatment intended to relieve or heal a condition”.
Poison can’t heal. Can it relieve?
Chemo is capable of killing cancer cells, so it can shrink tumours – though often only in the short term.
But it also kills healthy cells so it can (and often does) destroy the immune system (many who die during chemo die of relatively minor infections their body could not fight), and cause organ failure, internal bleeding and death (to name just a few of its common side effects).
In G’s case, initial scans showed the tumour shrinking, but within a few months the cancer had spread like wildfire, as happens so often, and as I wrote about here.
For several reasons, this outcome is not in the least surprising.
First, chemo drugs are such toxic and dangerous substances that if a spill occurs in a hospital, it is considered a major biohazard.
No member of hospital staff must go near the spill unless they’re wearing full protective clothing, and the incident must be reported.
In fact, to illustrate just what a big deal a chemo spill is, here is the University of Toledo’s “Hazardous Materials Spill Procedures” document. On pages 3 and 4 you can read its elaborate 18-point procedure for dealing with a spill of “chemotherapeutic hazardous materials”.
Sorry if I’m nit-picking here, but “therapeutic hazardous”? Isn’t that a rather obvious oxymoron?
One reason chemo agents are treated as biohazards is that they cause serious burns if spilled onto skin.
Anyway. The toxic, hazardous substance that is the subject of the 18-point emergency health and safety protocol linked to above is the same substance that is injected into the veins of sick patients.
I’ll leave you to ponder how logical that is, how likely it is to be in the best interests of the patient, and how in keeping it is with the Hippocratic Oath “First, do no harm”.
I’ll tell you what I think.
As chemo is so widely administered to cancer patients, yet also so deadly, it is my belief that more people die of chemo than of cancer itself.
Here is another reason I believe that.
Recent research identified a compound in chemo drugs that fuels cancer growth.
Yes, really.
It found, specifically, that repeated bouts of chemo can cause healthy cells to secrete a protein – WNT16B – that helps cancer cells to grow, invade surrounding tissue and resist chemo treatment.
In lab tests, scientists observed an up to 30-fold increase in WNT16B production in response to chemotherapy.
So now we know that when cancer suddenly starts growing and spreading more aggressively after chemo – as so often happens – that is not only due to chemo’s ability to quickly ravage the immune system, but also because chemo causes healthy cells to start churning out a chemical that accelerates cancer growth.
This research was published in August and you’d hope that it would lead to chemo being used a lot more judiciously.
But in fact that should have happened at least 20 years ago.
That was the time at which a landmark review of the evidence around chemotherapy for advanced cancer, conducted by a leading epidemiologist and biostatistician, showed it to be a useless treatment in the majority of cases.
In the late 1980s Ulrich Abel contacted 350 medical centres around the world and asked them to send him anything they had ever published regarding chemotherapy for advanced cancer, and also reviewed and analysed thousands of articles published in medical journals.
In a 1990 interview in German magazine Der Spiegel, Abel commented that chemotherapy for advanced cancer is “a scientific wasteland” and its overall success rate “appalling”.
His paper, Chemotherapy of advanced epithelial cancer – a critical review was published in 1992. In it, Abel concluded that “there is no direct evidence that chemotherapy prolongs survival in patients with advanced carcinoma” (cancer). (Note: the term “epithelial” encompasses all of the most common cancers, which account for at least 80% of cancer cases.)
He wrote that: “Many oncologists take it for granted that response to therapy [i.e. initial tumour shrinkage] prolongs survival, an opinion which is based on a fallacy and which is not supported by clinical studies”.
If you’re reading this because you or a loved one is trying to decide whether to have chemotherapy, my advice would be, do your research.
Cancer patients are often made to feel by their doctors that if they refuse the chemo recommended to them, they are taking a big risk with their health.
But they are often not told enough about the big risk they are taking by having it.
There are cases where chemo is indicated; please don’t think I’m saying otherwise.
But (1) it is overused, and (2) regardless of whether chemo is or isn’t indicated, all cancer patients need to be on a diet and lifestyle regime which supports their overall health and immunity, yet that’s something else you’re unlikely to hear from your doctor.
Ben Goldacre’s new book Bad Pharma – which I reviewed here – is about the worrying influence of pharmaceutical corporations on medical research and practice.
The book shows that “evidence-based medicine” is not in fact reliably “evidence based”. Other interests are coming first and large numbers of patients will continue to suffer and die needlessly until it stops.
G was wealthy enough to afford the best treatment money can buy, and I find it indescribably sad that he died believing he’d had that, when he’d in fact had nothing of the kind.
Like so many before him, he did what his doctors told him to because he believed that they knew best and that if there was anything that could be done for him, they would be doing it.
The whole thing is tragic beyond words.
This makes me want to scream. Even more so when we are subjected to this “Stand up to Cancer” stuff on TV, with (probably, because I have not seen any of it) no mention of how to reverse the condition naturally, and the truth about chemo.
Whilst recently reviewing my notes taken during my Health Educator course at Hippocrates, I noted that I had written that ALL cancer starts with the breakdown of pancreatic function, and that reduced tissue oxygenation, caused by poor lifestyles, comes a close second. I still find it staggering that respected oncologists tell patients that it doesn’t matter what they eat, and in fact that they should definitely NOT take whole food antioxidant supplements (which would actually help them to fight the disease), because they interfere with the chemo (proven years ago to be untrue).
We could wallow in despair, or we can carry on with what we are doing, in our work as educators, to help people who care about this subject to understand that there is a better way; a way that promotes health and does no harm.
With cancer now fighting it out with heart disease to gain the title of “number one killer in the Western world”, it has never been more important to continue educating ourselves in natural methods of disease prevention, and giving careful consideration to everything we put into our bodies, allopathic or otherwise. The “war” on cancer, started in 1971 by president Nixon, has been lost many times over. We are still led to believe that a cure is “just around the corner” and that if we give yet another donation to cancer research charities then we will get there faster. This is a fallacy. The cure is within us, and begins with us. It begins by taking personal responsibility for all of our actions. It begins by loving and respecting ourselves enough to only ever want to do what is best for our bodies. That’s not selfish, it is self-love.
Sarah, I feel your loss; all the more tragic because G sounds as if he could have easily afforded the Life Transformation Program at Hippocrates for example, that gives the support, food, knowledge and guidance for people to turn pretty much any disease process around.
It’s more than frustrating when loved ones choose a path that, in the same circumstances, we would not have chosen for ourselves. We see their suffering, feel their pain, and have to stand by and do nothing, because they believe they are doing the right thing for themselves. Ultimately, we have to respect that we all have a choice, and, different from ours, they made theirs.
People are listening Sarah. Do we have to shout louder? I don’t think so. Our numbers are growing. People are demanding alternatives. We just have to keep on providing the right information about them.
Love, Max.
View CommentThanks very much, Max. As ever you hit the nail on the head with this. Sarah xx
View CommentI just want to say thank you for all the useful information. Your articles are great. You are providing a beautiful service to others. Keep it up.
View CommentI don’t understand why so many people take chemo. My dads friend, 78, was diagnosed with cancer late last year. He chose to take chemotherapy, even though most of his friends and family objected.
View CommentThank you for your information. And I am sorry for your your friend mr. G.
View CommentIm scared now though. I didnt understand some of this article. But chemo is supposed to be my hope. Thats what my mom and the doctor said. It was explained to me as poison being put into you to kill everything. It seemed like it didnt sound good or made any sense. The radiation though I can tell you dont hurt at all.
I googled if you can die from chemo. Being scared erases my hope. But thank you for your research. I hope something better comes along. I hope you have a good day.
Don’t give up hope Laurdess. I don’t know your situation, but whatever it is there is always hope. Whatever your diagnosis, there are people who beat it.
View CommentBless you Laurdess. There is always hope. You may find the above video useful to you. It is part 2, of a series, should you wish to research further. Click my initials, MT, for the video link. Best to you.
View CommentThis may sound funny, but ‘apricot kernels’ (B17) is a natural anti cancer cell substance and a logical replacement for the highly toxic chemo. There are many people, including myself, who claim that B17 got rid of their cancer and it simply is that powerfull. However, the real cause for cancer and disease in general can be ‘cured’ with ‘German New Medicine’ (GNM). By the way, both are on the black list of the medical establishment and GNM has never been tested by ‘modern medicine’ – there’s even a court order for the University of T√ºbingen, but the latter simply refuses to do what it’s ordered to do! What a charade…
View CommentSomeone I love is taking exactly the same journey as ‘G’. I affirm that everything said in this article is true. I’ve seen evidence of it..and am living with it, today. In decades from now, the history books will reveal ‘chemo’ to be a barbaric exploitation of desperately ill people… serving none but the pharmaceutical corporations that manufacture them, and those ‘professionals’ who receive payment/profit for peddling their poisons.
View CommentHi guys I’m down that road with my son he was diagnosed with AML and had a relapse and the doctor told me it came back and that the chemo will probably kill him, so I’m making the decision to give him natural meds and see what happens.
Angel
View CommentI am a prostate cancer survivor, I chose surgery to remove it rather than radiation as radiation just didn’t sit right with me. Im sorry for your loss. It irritates me to no end that the medical community is a multi billion dollar industry and the push useless treatments such as chemo because of the profits. My mom had breast cancer a long time ago, she too had everything removed and refused the chemo, against her doctors wishes and she is still with us today at a young 83. If you really think about it, what would all these research hospitals and pharmaceutical companies do if there was a cure for cancer. The overnight losses would be astronomical.
View CommentI have heard of too many people going downhill fast when choosing the chemo route to healing, I learned a lot as I have three relatives die from cancer and friends. I also watched the episodes of The truth about cancer which show so many people who healed holistically. Thanks for your post!
View CommentLook up a ketogenic diet for cancer – we’ve known about it for 100 years now but since it’s free and simple, your oncologist won’t mention it, a true failure of ‘informed consent’. Seems like it should be the first defense against blood-sugar gobbling cancer cells that can’t metabolize ketone bodies but bring it up and you’ll be looked at like you have two heads.
The increase in cancer rates plots perfectly with the increase in sugar in our diets. And try to find a death listing for ‘chemotherapy’ as cause of death and you won’t. The medical examiners take one look at the thick medical record of a cancer patient and announce ‘cancer’ as cause of death, when in many cases, it was the treatment that caused the widespread organ failure. I honestly think you can make cancer a chronic but benign condition that doesn’t kill – change your diet to a ketotic one, take in large dose D3 and Vitamin C, add B17, selenium and see how you do… it worked for me.
View CommentCuring cancer is not that hard. It’s happening daily around the world. By those that get the word. There are lots of effective protocols. Mostly just eating good foods. And NOT destroying the immune system with chemo.
Chemo is for making money. At the cost of lives. Corruption at its worst.
View CommentExcellent article. I had both parents die at young ages from cancer, or should I say cancer treatments. I’ve been trying to get this message across to family and friends for over 40 years, very few are willing to listen. I believe this to be a conspiracy between the pharmaceutical industry, food industry, CDC, FDA etc. Its a conspiracy hatched from the pit of Hell. As it’s been said before, the love of money IS the root of ALL evil.
View CommentSarah you are completely correct. It has been proven that chemotherapy is a toxic poison and actually causes cancer patients to die prematurely. There was a study done in 2004 by the Department of Radiation Oncology at Northern Sydney Cancer Centre in Australia that proved that the effectiveness of chemotherapy was 2.3% in Australia and 2.1% in USA. This means that cancer patients taking chemotherapy have a 97.7% chance of dying.
View CommentThe world needs to be told how dangerous it is.
I’m so frustrated. But I am happy I found people who think like I do and better yet to read about scientific facts about what I also suspected to be true. How could such toxic poison be the main answer….I know my stepdad was very ill. But I am convinced the targeted therapy and the chemotherapy he was treated with not only made things worse but also killed him, rather than the cancer itself. I’m totally furious.
I tried to introduce traditional Chinese medicine based on specific nutrition, acupuncture and herbal support to boost his organs and immune system. But he just believed the hospital doctors and wouldn’t try anything else. The Chinese doctor said it best to me: Western medicine wants to eradicate the disease. Traditional Chinese medicine (which is all natural) heals the root cause of it. Comparing it to making the “soil” that produces the sick cells clean, healthy and fertile again. It makes SO MUCH sense…
I’m not only grieving and feeling immense pain and frustration from this chemo nonsense. I’ve seen my stepdad and literally shrivel, deteriorate and shrink in a matter of 2 weeks. 1 day before the chemo he was standing, walking around, laughing. 2 weeks later he looked 100 years old, couldn’t move, couldn’t talk, lost consciousness and so much weight, got an infection and died in a matter of days. It just doesn’t add up. And if I say what I think to my family, they just think I’m delusional and psychologically refusing to accept his illness.
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