| There is a strong move within the medical | | | | longevity. |
| communities and government bodies such as the | | | | There is much known to science but a lot of this |
| US FDA to make sure that people who are ill are | | | | is tucked away in health psychology text books |
| not subject to scam claims about alternative | | | | and journals. Some of this is known through pop |
| cancer remedies and natural cancer treatments. | | | | psychology but may not be accurate. For |
| This would be fair enough if the medical | | | | example, it is often believed that to survive you |
| community was actually offering treatments that | | | | have to be positive all the time. My own research |
| worked. Unfortunately some of them have been | | | | has shown that this is not the case, however |
| shown to be medically ineffective. An important | | | | being positive most of the time is one of the |
| medical paper in 2004 showed that chemotherapy | | | | characteristics of survivors. |
| only increased the average 5 year survival rates | | | | Governmental bodies and anti-scam scientists are |
| by just over 2% (reference below). | | | | particularly hard on those who promote |
| Chemotherapy for breast cancer, for example, | | | | supplements suggesting that all people are after is |
| has an average increased 5-year survival rate of | | | | making money out of the sick. No doubt this is |
| only 1.5%. A number of cancers (soft tissue | | | | sometimes the case. But what excuse is there |
| sarcoma, melanoma of skin, uterus, prostate, | | | | for promoting chemotherapy as THE answer to |
| bladder, kidney and multiple myeloma) were | | | | cancer when it only increases survival by an |
| shown to have no increase in survival due to | | | | average of just over 2% and in some cases, is |
| chemotherapy at all. | | | | not of benefit at all. Who benefits from this? Who |
| Doctors often talk about patients having unrealistic | | | | is paid the big money? |
| expectations about the efficacy of drugs, but to | | | | As a researcher I have to say that it is highly |
| my way of thinking they only have themselves | | | | unlikely that just one supplement, herb, fancy |
| to blame. None of the doctors I work closely with | | | | berry from the highlands of somewhere will be |
| in our medical school had ever spoken to patients | | | | sufficient to make the difference of life or death. |
| about the low effectiveness of chemotherapy. In | | | | However there are some good scientific pointers |
| fact only one of them knew exactly how | | | | to suggest that avoiding sugar and flour which |
| ineffective the drugs actually were. | | | | feed cancers, adding anti cancer foods of brightly |
| If we take the breast cancer example again - | | | | colored vegetables and fruit, adding some |
| women with breast cancer have a 78-85% | | | | supplements proven to be advantageous, taking |
| 5-year survival rate in Australia, of which only | | | | regular exercise, and undertaking certain self care |
| 1.5% was due to chemotherapy. None of my | | | | activities would definitely be positive to health. And |
| friends who have had breast cancer were told | | | | many regions around the world have their |
| that the average length of survival for breast | | | | traditional cancer remedies, their natural cancer |
| cancer is 20 years nor about the high survival | | | | treatments which might be good to add to your |
| rate, nor about the low impact of chemotherapy. | | | | overall regimen. Check out all of your options and |
| All believed that they needed chemotherapy to | | | | don't let yourself be bullied by anyone. |
| have any hope of survival. | | | | Reference: Morgan G, Ward R, Barton M. The |
| The flip side of this terrible situation is that if only | | | | contribution of cytotoxic chemotherapy to 5-year |
| 1.5% of survivors are due to chemotherapy, then | | | | survival in adult malignancies. Clinical Oncology |
| 76.5-83.5% is due to other things. Surgery and | | | | 2004;16:549-560. This is reasonably readable and |
| radiotherapy will play some part. But so too, does | | | | anyone with cancer should get a copy (try your |
| the body's natural ability to heal. If you really want | | | | university medical library - they can download it |
| to keep on living it makes sense to spend a little | | | | for you). It isn't very chatty, mostly just how |
| time exploring those aspects of healing, known to | | | | they came to the figures for each of the main |
| science and to our cultural traditions which will | | | | cancers. |
| improve our quality of life, and hopefully, our | | | | |