Oh, goody. I think I see future blog fodder for the second half of September. (When you’ve been in the blogging biz as along as I have, you think that far in advance when the opportunity presents itself.) Well, maybe it’s blog fodder. The problem is that I would actually have to wade through the blog fodder. You see, I’m referring to something that one of my least favorite cancer quacks, Robert O. Young, turned me on to yesterday. The same way that antivaccinationists have their yearly antivaccine quackfest known as Autism One, cancer quacks apparently like to have their quackfests, too. Only this one is an online quackfest known as The Cure to Cancer Summit, and it’ll be running from September 18 to the 28.
Let’s just put it this way. This particular summit advertises itself thusly: “Join 22 Leading Researchers And Experts on the World’s First Free Online Cure to Cancer Summit As They Reveal Their Most Recent Findings About Cancer!” Unfortunately, one of those “experts” is Robert O. Young, who, as you may recall, believes that all disease, in particular cancer, is due to acid, and that alkalinization is the cure. For instance, to him cancer is a “poisonous acidic liquid” caused by an “acid” diet and that the cancerous tumor is not a problem but rather the “body’s protective mechanism to encapsulate spoiled or poisoned cells from excess acid that has not been properly eliminated through urination, perspiration, defecation or respiration.” Indeed, he goes farther than that and claims that “the tumor is not the problem but the solution to protect healthy cells and tissues from being spoiled from other rotting cells and tissues.” Young’s quackery is not limited to cancer, either. He also believes that viruses are “molecular acids” and that sepsis is not caused by bacterial infection. (He doesn’t accept the germ theory of disease.) Indeed, compared to Robert O. Young, Andrew Weil looks reasonable. Unfortunately, Young’s quackery has a body count of at least one (namely Kim Tinkham, who chose Young’s treatment and died as a result), although, given the nonsense that he preaches, I have a hard time believing that the count isn’t likely much, much higher. Indeed, in the case of Kim Tinkham, Young tried to do everything he could to weasel out of being blamed for her death, up to and including blaming her for not adhering tightly enough to his regimen.
So, we know that Robert O. Young is among the quackiest of cancer quacks. But what about the 21 other speakers at this quackfest? I recognized surprisingly few names, but one name I did recognize was Gabriel Cousins. He’s not that interesting in that he’s your basic run-of-the-mill raw food vegan. On the other hand, he also bills himself as a “holistic physician, medical researcher, world-recognized live-food nutritionist, psychiatrist, family therapist, homeopath, Rabbi, acupuncturist, Ayurvedic practitioner, expert on green juice spiritual fasting and detoxification fasting, ecological leader, Reiki master, internationally celebrated spiritual teacher, author, lecturer, culture-bridger, world peaceworker, to give a unique holistic approach to nurturing the hungry soul.” I might have to make sure to check out his talk. It’s rare that so much woo is packed to tightly into one man.
I also recognized Ty Bollinger. I had heard of him before because I somehow got on a mailing list in which posts by him show up. Indeed, I’ve been meaning to use him as the target subject of one of my posts for a while but somehow never got around to it. Given the veritable cornucopia of cancer quackery that I see here, I don’t know that this is the time. Bollinger really does deserve his own post. However, I don’t see any problem with providing you with a little wafer to cleanse the palate. Just take a look at his blog at CancerTruth.net. There you’ll find posts on laetrile (yes, laetrile—how 1970s!), pH quackery and the sodium bicarbonate cure much like that recommended by Robert O. Young, and a series of interviews known as the Cancer Truth chronicles. Who knew sodium bicarbonate could so so much? Check it out:
There are lots more where that came from.
Then there’s Thomas Lodi, who runs the “Oasis of Healing.” There he advocates quackery such as insulin potentiation therapy:
Cancer cells are both defective and primitive. Not only are they unable to use oxygen to metabolize glucose into energy, they are either lacking or completely deficient in many enzymes that normal cells have in abundance. One such enzyme is catalase which transforms oxygen and water into hydrogen peroxide and vice versa.
High doses of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) result in the production of peroxides in and around cells. Healthy cells use the hydrogen peroxide for certain metabolic needs and the excess is converted into water and oxygen (good stuff). Since cancer cells have very little catalase, they are unable to convert the hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen and consequently are oxidized and killed.
I’ve written many times about how intravenous high dose vitamin C almost certainly has no effect on cancer. At best, it might have a very minor anticancer effect, and at best it’s a long run for a short slide, given the enormous doses that have to be used. As for insulin potentiation therapy (IPT), that’s one of the most dangerous cancer quackeries there is, and Lodi offers it. Basically, the idea behind IPT is that cancer cells like sugar, which is true. They do. Cancer cells tend to rely on glycolysis, and because glycolysis is an inefficient way of extracting energy from glucose compared to aerobic respiration they need a lot of glucose. Couple to that the idea that decreasing the glucose concentration could sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy and thus was a dangerous bit of quackery born. In IPT, the cancer quack will administer a high dose of insulin, enough to drive the patient’s blood sugar down to very low levels, at which point the patient is given chemotherapy, usually at subtherapeutic doses. (Remember, the low glucose is supposed to sensitize cancer cells to chemotherapy so that lower doses are effective.) After that, the patient is given glucose to reverse the hypoglycemia caused by the insulin. The reason why IPT is so dangerous is that there’s no room for error. If the “natural practitioner” accidentally drives the patient’s glucose too low, he could die.
by comparison, Lodi’s other woo looks positively harmless:
These Integrative treatments can include alternative IV therapies such as high dose vitamin C and ozone treatments, acupuncture, massage therapy, infrared sauna, exercise with oxygen (EWOT), meditation, yoga, Reiki, reflexology, relaxation techniques, prayer, and support groups. The hands-on methods like massage therapy or acupuncture will help with the side effects of pain, nausea, and stress associated with traditional treatments as well as assist with opening energy meridians and allowing the lymph to drain more freely reducing the toxic load on the body. Focusing on the power of prayer or meditation will help strengthen the spirit and mental well-being which will add another level to the success of a patient healing from cancer.
With regards to alternative cancer treatments, the conventional approved methods are not used at all.
These alternative methods are used through a holistic (whole person) health approach using special diets, herbal and non-herbal supplements, high doses of vitamin C intravenously, oxidative therapies, and other system cleanses and detoxification methods such as colonics, Pulsed Electromagnetic treatments (PEMF), Infrared sauna, UBI (Ultraviolet blood irradiation), and lymphatic drainage.
Is there any woo Lodi won’t use? I don’t think so. I suppose I might have to watch his talk as well. It’s the next best thing to attending in person another cancer quackfest, the 2013 HealingStrong Conference and Retreat. On second thought, I think I’ll pass. My actually entering that conference might be like mixing matter with antimatter (or at least anti-woo with woo). I fear the results.
74 replies on “A cancer quackfest”
Ty Bollinger is right! Baking soda is a non-toxic deodorant.
(My Mom taught me that if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.)
This is probably a stupid question. I never was very good with chemistry. But:
Aren’t all acids molecular?
On the other hand, he also bills himself as a “holistic physician, medical researcher, world-recognized live-food nutritionist, psychiatrist, family therapist, homeopath, Rabbi, acupuncturist, Ayurvedic practitioner, expert on green juice spiritual fasting and detoxification fasting, ecological leader, Reiki master, internationally celebrated spiritual teacher, author, lecturer, culture-bridger, world peaceworker, to give a unique holistic approach to nurturing the hungry soul.”
Wow. I’m amazed he could find the time for this “summit”.
BTW what is a “culture-bridger”? Is that when one petri dish cross contaminates another?
Aren’t all acids molecular?
Yes. In other news: water is wet, bears defecate in the woods, and Generalísimo Francisco Franco is still dead.
There’s another cancer quackfest a bit earlier, and not nearly so long. What are you going to do for 11 days? This one is 3 days.
http://www.cancercontrolsociety.org/meeting2013-html.html
And if you’re a dentist or nurse, it’s good for continuing education credits!
@pris depends whose definition. in Bronsted-Lowry acid theory yes, but Lewis acid theory allows you to consider H+ (an ion, not a molecule) as the acid…..
“Is there any woo Lodi won’t use?”
Well, I don’t see chiropractic or homeopathy mentioned, but it could just be they ran out of space.
incitatus, are you mixing up Lewis with Arrhenius? Lewis acids are defined as electron acceptors, and Lewis bases as electron donors. Sure, a proton can accept an pair of electrons, but isn’t the whole point of Lewis theory to switch the defintions away from the protons and to the electrons?
If cancer cells are protective, how does Young explain why mice injected with cancer cells as part of an animal model of metastasis don’t fare just as well (if not better) than their control-group littermates who are without the benefit of cancer’s wonderful “protection”?
Baking soda makes tasty and fluffy pakoras possible. He didn’t mention that.
Gotta love the Evil Acid Conspiracy™ and the Alkaline Savior God™, oh man.
Robert Young believes that “the tumor is not the problem but the solution to protect healthy cells and tissues from being spoiled from other rotting cells and tissues.”
Finally, a solution to food going bad in my refrigerator! I’ll just bring tumors home from the histology lab and store them in the vegetable crisper – my salad ingredients will last _forever_.
Isn’t “molecular acid” an Alien reference?
Vitamin C IVs? But wouldn’t Ascorbic ACID cause cancer?
Orac is still showing his bias, lack of research and lack of perceptive analysis on the vitamin C issue. In my eyes, he misreads the science and history greatly, he quotes highly biased sources like Moertel, Barrett, and Robinson uncritically. And yes, there remains a great paucity of good or even relevant human data, especially from the professional research and medical communities.
I do not think that IV vitamin C is a stand alone treatment for advanced cancer. However it may (appears to) be a broad adjunct with many contributions, when used more optimally with other adjuvants. Recent clinical trial papers state reductions in sepsis and inflammation with IV vitamin C. Vitamin C neutralizes histamine which mediates VEGF and body performance deterioration. Other data suggest additive or synergistic vitamin C combinations as yet not trialed for decades, and substantial amelioration of some nasty chemo side effects. Even an incremental improvement can be the balance between exponential decay to NED or stable, vs an explosion of mets and mass to unpleasant deaths.
If one uses a simple exponential model, 15% growth per week is catastrophic (e.g. 1.15 ^ weeks), whereas 15% decline per week (0.85 ^ wk) will become NED if sustained. Long term, a change between 1.01 and 0.99 is the critical transition. Various preliminary data for vitamin C adjuvant combinations, including human data, span those ranges.
————————
If a metric for the government’s “War on Cancer” used vitamin C as it’s critical path monitor for tasks done incisively and correctly, then compared as a parallel to the WWII effort, Fermi’s followers would still be polishing graphite reactor blocks at U Chicago. Boeing would still be crashing XB29’s.
So Orac’s problem is the failure to consider research that is missing?
JGC@16: He repeats stuff that is not accurate, emphasizes the unreliable sources with factual problems, and dismisses a fair amount of analyzable data without paid FDA approvals.
JustNuts@14: Vitamin C IVs?…Ascorbic ACID…?
Vitamin C IVs are either
sodium ascorbate – ascorbic acid buffers near pH 7 or straight sodium ascorbate solution with a higher pH.
Nonsense. If anything, I bend over too far backward to be fair to the claims of the “high dose vitamin C cures cancer” crowd.
“There’s some bad acid going around …”
Two questions–first, what exactly do you mean by “data without paid FDA approvals”?
Second, what in your opinion is the single most compelling example of “data without paid FDA approvals” supporting the claim that IV vitamin C is effectivee as an adjunct therapy for advanced cancers?
It’s rare that so much woo is packed to tightly into one man.
Don’t forget Jean Swann, your host: “Licensed Spiritual Health Coach, a Certified Quantum Biofeedback Practitioner, a Certified Reiki Master and a Certified ThetaHealing Basic DNA Practitioner. She also studied Naturopathy at the International Quantum University for Integrative Medicine.”
There’s another cancer quackfest a bit earlier, and not nearly so long
That “Cancer Control Society” looks fun… one of the logos is an apricot pit, to let you know that it’s essentially a branch of the Laetrile industry (with a “tour of Mexican cancer clinics” offered as a side trip). Not exclusively, though; I see the program making time for the Gerson protocol, Hoxsey, parasites, and presentations on fluoride and EMF.
So it features more of the snake-oil grifters, fewer of the hand-wavy woo grifters. Francisco Contreras — scion of the Contreras laetrile dynasty — is pushing the family scam at both meetings. But why do they both use the initials CCS? It is almost as if the Cure for Cancer Summit is trying to freeload on the advertising of the longer-established C.C. Society.
This year I can’t see anyone from the Aminocare wing of Burzynski’s operation putting in an attendance at either. Perhaps they no longer want to be associated with the general air of shoddiness and deceit.
You may think you are bending over backwards because your perception has multiple assumptions, and errors that cause you to be basically dismissive. Your small allowances for unknowns (to you) are for the wrong therapeutic model. One error defends another, people seldom thread a maze.
Now, I will agree that there are plenty of light weight followers, marketers and providers in alt med or even vitamin C. A more complete vitamin C story is much different than the one that you present.
“high dose vitamin C cures cancer” crowd “cure” typically reflects very unsophisticated people, or prejudicial overstatement by skeptics. Some of your sources appear to be misrepresent Pauling’s written stance about percentages living with cancer, instead as wild eyed claims of a general cure. Historically, the major vitamin C figures like Hoffer or Klenner, saw favorable results in complementary modes. They did not advocate stand alone vitamin C treatment.
There are several conceptual hurdles that you completely miss.
1. Alternative IV vitamin C was developed anti-viral and toxic uses. These are the first step tests that a doctor is likely to get an obvious good response the first time. Always focusing on advanced/retreated cancer first is trying to fly before you can even crawl, a great misdirection if a competitor can get away with it.
2. The pyramid of testing is to test single components, then maybe pairs, and then the complex formulas. This breaks down if you quit after some cocked single component tests. Think how even Avastin or leucovorin perform as solo treatments for cancer. They might be denounced as quackery if they had been (man)handled like vitamin C.
3. Your statements keep over looking obvious physiological responses with IV vitamin C. Small positives add up, too.
the preceeding is for Orac@19
JGCa@24 what exactly do you mean by “data without paid FDA approvals”?
FDA accepted Phase II and III tests for new molecules as drugs.
Second, what in your opinion is the single most compelling example of “data without paid FDA approvals” supporting the claim that IV vitamin C is effective as an adjunct therapy for advanced cancers?
Unfortunately you have to parse and analyze the whole tarball of literature, lectures, tests and controversy to make sense and sparsely populate a data matrix on applications. This probably works best with some grounding experiences to identify common errors and biases, pro and con.
Most people appear to me to undertreat with both CAM and a compatible chemo for best long term success.
Another question for the “Acid causes cancer” crowd… Heavy exercise produces lactic acid in muscle tissue – Why don’t professional athletes have a high incidence of cancer?
The HealingStrong Conference in Atlanta also seems to have a strong Christian slant to it.
Tim Johnson, Special Guest Night of Worship
Tim Johnson is an American contemporary Christian music artist, worship leader, and songwriter whose passion is to be used through worship to encourage and strengthen others through the power of the Holy Spirit. Tim will be leading worship during the Saturday Night of Worship.
Session IV – Intentional Living: Power of Forgiveness in Healing (Night of Worship)
Fr. John Calbom, Cherie Calbom and HealingStrong Team present powerful Night of healing messages, music, and worship
Since this hope-filled weekend is designed to touch the mind, body and soul, participants are invited to attend a special Night of Worship. Our faith in Christ played an important role in our team’s healing journeys, and we hope to celebrate with you through live music, singing, prayer, and praise. Join us, along with our friends and families, amazing worship leader Tim Johnson, and guest speakers, Fr. John Calbom and Cherie Calbom who will be presenting on the Power of Forgiveness in Healing.
I guerss Jews, Muslims and athiests are not eligible to take this “healing journey.”
Furthermore, I had no idea Robert Scott Bell was actually a homeopath himself. I’ve never listened to his radio show but thought he merely gave quacks a platform.
And
Fr. John Calbom, M.A., Speaker
He is an inspirational speaker, corporate chaplain, consultant, certified HeartMath provider, and a Russian Orthodox (ROCOR) priest with degrees in theology and psychology. He is co-author with his wife, Cherie, of four best-selling books including The Complete Cancer Cleanse. Fr. John integrates Biblical truths with insights from neuropsychology, cardiac psychology, and behavioral medicine as part of training for excellence to reach our God-given potential.
Thank you, Doctor, for the work you do exposing the quackery that is homeopathic “medicine.” My wife was diagnosed with IDC, stage 3A estrogen positive, three years ago. She underwent a bilateral mastectomy immediately, followed by a chemo and radiation regimen. The treatment wasn’t really discussed, although we did get a second opinion. The cards were laid out on the table for us and together we chose science. Today, she is NED.
I did consult the University of Google, if only to satisfy my own desire to know more about the disease that threatened my wife’s life. I focused on science -base sites (Cancer Network, CDC, Hopkins, etc). Quite frankly, I learned more than I really wanted to know. For coping purposes (and advice for male caregivers) I searched to no avail for sites to help me in that department. Ultimately, I sought advice and councel from two friends who’s wives were stage IV metastatic BC.That was difficult, indeed. It was this research that exposed to me the quackery that is alternative medicine. And it’s amazing how such a large portion of our population has been duped into believing this BS. During her treatments, I was intensely protective of my wife and pretty much gave anyone with woo advice a swift kick in the ass out of our home.
Frightenly for me, my wife believes this stuff- cleansings, detox, etc. She’s a veggie and my kids are commited vegans. They believe these dietary-health regimens can prevent reoccurance of her BC. I don’t tell her what I’ve learned. However, thanks to health professionals like yourself, I do have the ammo to keep the quackery at bay should that terrible day come to pass.
Again, thank you.
I guerss Jews, Muslims and athiests are not eligible to take this “healing journey.”
You never know. As noted above, Gabriel Cousins can reconcile his Rabbinical learning with the Hinduism of ayervedic therapy, and whatever religious syncretism Reiki claims as its basis. All spiritual backgrounds seem to be fair game.
One of the biggest crackpots in the alt cancer game is participating in that 10-day online conference, but he never seems to get much attention from skeptics.
He goes by the name “Dr.” Leonard Coldwell, and I first heard him on Coast To Coast AM a couple of yeats ago.
He claims a 92.3% (!) cure rate for all cancers, he claims to have successfully treated 35,000 people, he claims all cancers can be cured within two weeks, and he claims he was personally summoned by Ronald Reagan to cure his cancer.
He’s got an interesting background: he was associated with Kevin Trudeau’s Global Information Network (G.I.N.) until they had a bitter falling out. He was born in Germany and his real name is Bernd Klein, or Bernd Witchner, but he changed it to Leonard Coldwell in 1998. He says he has four MD degrees but there is no evidence for any of them, although he does have a Ph.D. from a now-defunct diploma mill. He has several self-help books and CDs on Amazon, but despite his claimed cure rate of 92.3% (that .3 adds extra credibity, as if 92% wouldn’t be impressive enough) he has no Google presence except for all of his own sales websites. Not even a Wikipedia page. There are a couple of skeptics who have written about him and he promptly threatens them with lawsuits and unleashes a barrage of semi-literate insults at his critics.
Here’s a good place to start reading about him:
http://saltydroid.info/darker-than-the-darkside/
And here:
http://gintruth.com/gnt/Blog/Entries/2012/12/15_To_be_or_not_to_be_-_is_he_really_a_doctor.html
More on Coldwell’s impossible claims from a skeptic:
I’ve been trying to piece together his professional life story from his multiple web sites (he does not publish a chronological CV anywhere that I can find). However, using only information published by him, he has at least 2 “Doctor” degrees (DNM and NMD) and at least four PhDs, yet he practiced as a “general practitioner for 16 years” prior to devoting himself to curing stress related diseases such as cancer. He has cured 35000 patients of cancer, with a cure rate of more than 90%.
Assuming that he began his advanced medical and PhD work at age 20, and that each degree took him 3 years to complete (I have never met anyone who completed a PhD or other doctorate in less than 3 years), the 6 degrees would take him 18 years to complete (minimum age 38). Let’s assume for simplicity that he did not actually work professionally with any of these degrees until completing his multiple educations since that merely extends his age to the absurd. He then spent “16 years in general practice” before devoting himself to curing cancer, which made him 54 when he started his cancer work. (Somewhere in the process he also served as consultant to numerous fortune 500 companies on business matters, getting rich quick and other schemes according to his website, but let’s assume he did that during evenings and weekends since it otherwise adds even more years to his age).
So at age 54 he starts curing 35000 patients of cancer. It is reasonable to assume from his websites that virtually every patient he treated was cured, so he did not need to waste much time with patients who died of cancer. We need to understand that cancer is difficult to treat, so even someone of “Dr.” Coldwell’s prowess could not cure them in a single visit. Let’s assume that each patient required an average of 10 visits before they could be declared completely cured, and that each visit required 1 hour of the great man’s time. 35000 patients x 10 hour visits = 350,000 hours. Assuming that he worked 60 hour weeks x 50 weeks per year, he could handle 3000 visits, and cure 300 patients per year. At that rate, it would take him more than 100 years to cure 35,000 patients of cancer. During this same period, he was also writing numerous scholarly works, giving numerous acclaimed lectures, dealing with “Nobel Prize winners” as his “patients or students”. We can assume he was doing that extra work during evenings and weekends.
This is a very long blog post from a skeptic but it’s fast and easy (and entertaining) reading:
http://cosmicconnie.blogspot.jp/2012/05/paging-dr-c-bernd-bridges-in.html
This Coldwell guy is a goldmine. You can look inside his most recent book over at amazon…here’s a taste:
What a piece of work. Tons more where that came from.
Yeah, Coldwell’s arrogance makes Burzynski look positively humble by comparison.
In fact when Stan was going through his legal problems with the TMB and the FDA last year, Coldwell came out publicly in support of him. No big surprise, although they might actually look at each as competitors. If Coldwell can tell you what to do to cure any cancer in a $25 book, why bother shelling out $250K for Stan? And Coldwell has a miuch better success rate too!
At least Coldwell doesn’t see patients anymore, as it was stated in the Coast to Coast AM interview he feels he can do more good on the lecture and book circuit. Methinks it’s really because he’s not actually licensed as a doctor in the US.
Yeah, Coldwell’s arrogance makes Burzynski look positively humble by comparison.
How can that be, when he is a 19 times Mega Bestselling author!?!
I love Coldwell’s “warning” to the FDA and FTC:
FTC and FDA warning: guys I do not trade or sell anything or make any direct profit from any of my suggestions. Not even my books. So don’t
even bather (sic) to harass me because it will lead to legal action against you personally not against the agencies. http://www.instinctbasedmedicine.com (http://www.instinctbasedmedicine.com) You can get free individual advice from the http://www.goodlifefoundation.com (http://www.goodlifefoundation.com) from Dr. Hohn MD NMD just write to [email protected].
And note this discalimer: All health statements made are based on freedom of religion and for and form (sic) the Church Of Inner Healing.
Like Jim Humble of MMS fame, he’s hiding behind a fake church to make his ludicrous health claims.
I just read the free preview pages of his cancer book on Amazon.com. He is truly certifiable.
Here’s part of a discussion about Coldwell on James Randi’s site:
http://forums.randi.org/archive/index.php/t-228730.html
And here, a different German doctor is taking credit for curing Ronald Reagan by “cooking” the cancer out of him (inducing high fevers)–a treatment that is “illegal” in the USA:
When President Ronald Reagan got cancer during his presidency, the great German doctor Hans Nieper, M.D, treated him. It would have been front page news if it hadn’t been hushed up at the time.
Just imagine if the American public knew a sitting president preferred German cancer treatments!
I learned about it from my confidential source in Germany. In addition, Reagan’s German doctor acknowledged it in an interview.
I called the Reagan Library to see if the Library would confirm or deny that Dr. Nieper treated President Reagan in May of 1985.
A Reagan Library employee named Jenny responded to my request. She admitted that Reagan was in Germany in May of 1985, but she would neither confirm nor deny that Dr. Nieper treated him. She told me, “President Reagan’s private medical records before, during, and after his presidency are unavailable.” In July of 1985, Dr. Nieper flew to America to attend to Reagan in his hospital recovery room, according to my source.
Many American cancer patients lose their hair and their vitality. But Reagan kept his famous pompadour hairstyle. He also kept his warm smile and vigorous stride.
And after whipping his cancer the German way…Reagan lived for another 19 years.
This testimonial is from a website selling a book about a German cancer “breakthrough.” No mentions of Coldwell anywhere.
http://germancancerbreakthrough.com/B/index.html
I can’t go into great details tonight** but I wish someone else would:
prn, as usual, scoffs about SBM’s lack of knowledge of arcane treatments for cancer. It’s behind the times.
Oh where, oh where have I heard this before? Well, from all of the usual suspects.
An additional variant scoffs at SB research- in general- as it is ALL compromised -it’s either directly from pharma companies or from front group organisations paid for by pharma companies and universities paid for etc.;
ten studies are done, only the one that shows an effect is written up,
fixed data;
ghost writers;
any studies done by givernmental agencies are also compromised…
So what’s left? Woo-meisters’ select and alt med case studies?
Anti-vaxxers might remark that the studies’ authors were “criminals” etc.
** as I am recovering from a minor injury incurred whilst trying to catch a train yesterday. I DID catch the train. Barely.
Oooops! Erratum- GOVERNMENTAL
@ Woo Fighter:
Another German cancer quack, Josef Issels, is much lauded by other quacks like Gary Null:
one of Issels’ most famous patients was Bob Marley.
a different German doctor is taking credit for curing Ronald Reagan
I don’t think the late Hans Nieper ever claimed to have treated RR. He seems to have been deranged but sincere. Once he was dead (and Now the Truth Can be Told), the real grifters crawled out from under their stones with long lists of celebrities whom Nieper had treated in confidence — Reagan, John Wayne, Yul Brynner — while claiming to have inherited his curative secrets.
Grifters gotta grift.
So I guess stomach acid is why everyone always has stomach cancer always and constantly?
DW@38: …It’s behind the times.
A lot of dramatically successful inventions are rehashes and combinations of 50-100 yo discoveries and technologies.
prn, as usual, scoffs about SBM’s lack of knowledge of arcane treatments for cancer.
“Prn scoffs about the lack of effective science and original research skills utliized in stagnant, purblind, costly areas of medicine” might be a more accurate statement.
Denice, you are just repeating tired rhetoric based on biased and limited information with a cookie cutter view of science. FYI my previous reply.
Give it a break prn.
I just tried t refresh my memory about Ronald Reagan’s cancer surgeries. When I searched for “Ronald Reagan cancer”…I found every crazy permutation of the Ronald Reagan or “Ronald Regan” cancer story.
Wikipedia, has not yet been tampered with and here’s Reagan’s cancer history:
Health
Early in his presidency, Reagan started wearing a custom, technologically advanced hearing aid, first in his right ear[252] and later in his left as well.[253] His decision to go public in 1983 regarding his wearing the small, audio-amplifying device boosted their sales.[254]
On July 13, 1985, Reagan underwent surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital to remove cancerous polyps from his colon. He relinquished presidential power to the Vice President for eight hours in a similar procedure as outlined in the 25th Amendment, which he specifically avoided invoking.[255] The surgery lasted just under three hours and was successful.[256] Reagan resumed the powers of the presidency later that day.[257] In August of that year, he underwent an operation to remove skin cancer cells from his nose.[258] In October, additional skin cancer cells were detected on his nose and removed.[259]
In January 1987, Reagan underwent surgery for an enlarged prostate which caused further worries about his health. No cancerous growths were found, however, and he was not sedated during the operation.[260] In July of that year, aged 76, he underwent a third skin cancer operation on his nose.[261]
I’m thinking that low grade cancerous polyps were removed as I do recall that he did not undergo further treatment.
No sedation for an enlarged prostate surgery? My best guess is a regional (epidural) anesthesia.
Doktor,
Interestingly enough. Suzanne Somers is one of the many celebrities on the list who supposedly went to Nieper following her surgery and radiation. She allegedly chose mistletoe (Iscador) as her weapon of choice. I haven’t (nor would I ever) read any of her books but I wonder if she ever corroborated that claim?
Some of the other names that keep popping up on Nieper’s list include Elizabeth Taylor, Cher, Siegfried and Roy (BOTH of them had cancer?!), Princess Caroline of Monaco, Jennifer Lopez’s aunt (JLo chose and paid for the treatment), Anthony Quinn, William Holden and George Hamilton.
lilady,
We must have both been persuing the same websites this evening! Altough there is absolutely no credible evidence Reagan went to Germany, Nieper is alleged to have flown to the US to minister to Reagan post-op before Reagan went to Germany in 1985 for the fever therapy. But of course it’s been suppressed and is being kept secret because it’s all an evil conspiracy.
Speaking of woo, Nancy Reagan is supposed to have consulted with her astrologer regarding Ronnie’s treatments.
Whatever the truth, there is absolutely no way that “Dr.” Leonard Coldwell treated Reagan. Maybe Coldwell is exploiting the rumours that Reagan went to Germany. Coldwell was in Germany at the time, so why not claim Reagan was there to see him?
That should have been “perusing.” But I’m sure you figured that out.
Denice,
Don’t you know Bob Marley was murdered by the Illuminati? There are conspiracy nutbags claiming that the Illuminati poisoned Marley to make him sick and Issels, a Nazi doctor* acting under direction of the Illuminati, finished him off.
*Their claims, not mine.
My husband and I were in Germany and Austria in 1985, as well.
Nancy Reagan did consult with astrologers for “auspicious dates” for meetings and trips, but there is no indication that “Ronnie” ever followed Nancy’s astrologer’s advice.
This summit is just in time to coincide with Robert O Young’s newly released book. It’s called, ….you guessed it “The pH Miracle for Cancer”!
I believe if I’m not mistaken that another of Gabriel Cousen’s claims of success is, that he has a cure for both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
Maybe Coldwell is exploiting the rumours that Reagan went to Germany.
Look it it from “Leonard Coldwell”‘s perspective. Some other scammer, for his own self-promotion, has already spun the story that Reagan secretly went to Germany for cancer treatment from a third guy (Dr Nieper, who is not around to disagree). Coldwell has the options of creating his own mythos from scratch, or simply stealing this existing story, filing off the serial number, and bruiting it about with his own name inserted.
I get the impression that Coldwell is all about taking the easy option. So you get amusing threads like this one, in which the first comment is from Coldwell — under his other pseudonym of “Dr Hohn” — promoting his claim.
Feck. Threads like this one:
http://amfoi.wordpress.com/2010/05/16/obama-hoax-chump-of-the-day-leonard-coldwell-dr-mistletoe/
The third comment in the thread is from Coldwell again, but in the meantime he forgot the “Dr Hohn” identity and is using yet another name.
Evidently he is a birther, or at least one of his personalities is.
As a diabetic who is on daily insulin, I have to say that I find the mere concept of IPT positively terrifying. Not only as Orac says it’s a procedure with zero room for error, it’s incredibly easy to make those errors. You can plunge your patient’s glucose level down to near-fatal depths quite rapidly.
prn,
I refer you again to what I wrote here a couple of months ago.
Those still completed yet still unpublished trials are very damning, in my opinion..
Even the most sympathetic reviews of the evidence for any benefits of ascorbate for anything at all admit there is little if anything convincing. This seems peculiar given the widespread use of IV ascorbate for a wide range of conditions, unless CAM practitioners are incapable of keeping records.
As for:
Here’s what Cameron wrote:
That seems pretty wild-eyed to me! Those sorts of results should be easy to replicate and detect even in smaller studies, yet no one since has managed anything even remotely similar. Special pleading about using ascorbate, “more optimally with other adjuvants” doesn’t cut it.
@ Krebiozen:
Thanks.
I should add why is it that if some of the treatments prn is so thrilled about ( vitamin C, mushrooms- I’ve leave off cimetidine- that’s trop de pharma) are so fabulously effective, why are they usually only being promoted by alt med/ CAMsters? I’d think that someone in SBM would be in need of a study, seeking grant money, wanting to publish a groundbreaking paper etc. These treatments were not thought of yesterday but decades ago.
@ Woo Fighter:
You don’t say! I don’t think it possible: the illuminati have excellent taste in music and they would never eliminate a masterblaster source like Bob.
MUST have been the Bilderbergs. -btw-The Masons did in Amadeus because he revealed their secrets in Zauberflote.
So the problem is that Orac actually wants actual evidence that a treatment is safe and effective before he’ll accept that it’s safe and effective? really
I’m sorry, but I have to parse this as “I’m unable to identify a compeling study supporting the claim that IV vitamin C is effective as an adjunct therapy for advanced cancers”.
Sorry for the doubled post.
Most people appear to me to undertreat with both CAM and a compatible chemo for best long term success.
Damn! Need to review better before before hitting submit, but I’m sure you get the gist.
@Woo Fighter – I love the “CIA killed Bob Marley with a poisoned boot” conspiracy. Love it. It’s almost magical in it’s creativity!
@Krebiozen and @Denice – prn’s n=1 study is TOTES PROOF that vitamin C is they key to busting cancer, and it’s being suppressed by Big Pharma.
Talk about a bloody stuck record.
DW- I hope your injury isn’t too bad. The Shills and Minions Beach Bash on the sixth moon of Endriago is next weekend, and your flaming-limbo act is hotly anticipated!
@Jeff S.M. – Welcome to RI, and best of luck fighting the woo and keeping your family safe. My Mam is a huge woo-fiend and it maddens me.
Part of the reason my disabilities are so severe now is that she put her trust (and my bloody life) in alt-med and Jesus. When she was diagnosed with cancer I was terrified that she’d try that same awful combo of $CAM crap and religion. Fortunately she went with the surgical option, and got to live!
I totally understand how difficult it is to love someone and want to protect them from themselves. Knowing where to find accurate scientific information is half the battle, so hang in there.
@RI- Once again I’m recommending a search for the documentary “The Cancer Sell” on YouTube. It features many of the charlatans featured in this post. It’s one of Al Jazeera’s many excellent documentaries. Forget any preconceptions you have of Al Jazeera, their news service beats the BBC hands down when it comes to lack of bias, lack of sensationalism, and the sheer amount of quality journalistic content.
@ elburto:
I’m alright: I’ll just have to restrict my speedy dashes to the tennis court instead of on stairs at train platforms.
I didn’t miss the train.
Stairs are the enemy! Even when I had working legs I always treated stairs as if they were minefields, treading veeery slowly and cautiously.
Now, alas, I am like the Daleks of old, and stairs will defeat me!
the idea behind IPT is that cancer cells like sugar, which is true.
Sadly, so do brain cells.
@ Elburto…What’s your story?
And thanks.
Anyone heard of this person? Does he have any legitimacy?
http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel_Corcos2/
Kelly,
The first line of his little bio to which you linked sends up a massive red flag for me:
I am the inventor of a universal treatment for cancer, cell inflation assisted chemotherapy…
He has one paper published in an open-access journal, he spams his treatment in the comments at the American Cancer Society website, and, of course, he has a YouTube video:
My initial reaction is this could be another Burzynski situation. There are several parallels. Of course I could be way off base and this guy could be legit, doing remarkable ground-breaking work and will win a Nobel Prize.
He looks like Fred Armisen (ex of Saturday Night Live, now in Portlandia) with a white wig. But that’s neither here nor there.
Kelly,
Be careful searching this guy’s name on PubMed and elsewhere. There’s another doctor with the identical name in the US who is a Parkinson’s specialist , a member of the Michael J. Fox foundation and seems quite legit.
I’m not really sure where to post this, but it does involve quackery.
Prize fighter and AIDS denialist Tommy Morrison died over the weekend after a long battle with what was undoubtedly AIDS.
His family is refusing to disclose the cause of death, but his wife has also swallowed the AIDS-denialist Kool-Aid so it’s unlikely we’ll get the truth.
. There was a very long but excellent profile of his health struggles and AIDS denialism on the ESPN website. I read it last week after I was alerted to the Foo Fighters/AIDS denialism by Orac and started researching the (nauseating) subject.
Sorry to go OT.
Here’s the ESPN story from last week, before Morrison’s death, for those so inclined:
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9588582/tommy-morrison-latest-big-fight
(“Sorry to go OT”: something you’d never hear a scientologist say!)
JGC@57
Yeah, its relatively early stage literature, like this on pancreatic cancer. From my view, Orac should practice what he’s comfortable with. Where we split sheets is that he’s all about campaigning to impose his State type view in a monolithic way, that greatly interferes with individuals rights. My family doesn’t want his type of “protection”. I think you need to rework your policy angles that allow that before you “protect everybody” to death.
Krebiozen@35
Those still completed yet still unpublished trials are very damning, in my opinion..
It is the failure to start trials in useful ranges, 50-60-70 years that is damning. Continually making high stakes rejections on the toughest conditions or slightest delay on a single set of conditions datum is biased.
When I look at the cancer data I see different mechanistic subsets at play. Needs to stratify more to hit significant or quantitative results.
Even the most sympathetic reviews of the evidence for any benefits of ascorbate
…are pretty ignorant of a least the viral treatment salvage applications with IV vitamin C. When someone can’t make heads or tails on those, they are literally clueless.
Some of your sources appear to be misrepresent Pauling’s written stance about percentages living with cancer, instead as wild eyed claims of a general cure.
Here’s what Cameron wrote:
The ascorbate-treated patients were found to have a mean survival time about 300 days greater than that of the controls. Survival times greater than 1 yr after the date of untreatability were observed for 22% of the ascorbate-treated patients and for 0.4% of the controls.
That seems pretty wild-eyed to me!
Hmmm, not so much to me. First you seem to move the goal posts from apparent “cures” to 300 days. Levine once cited some special factors of Scotland then, like poverty and scurvy, that may alter the Cameron C data more favorably. My own little experiment uses pre1980 pharm technologies, and it’s 600+ days past 2000’s mean so 300d is pretty unimpressive to me.
Those sorts of results should be easy to replicate and detect even in smaller studies, yet no one since has managed anything even remotely similar.
No one in the conventional world seems to have bothered with an honest factors analysis until Levine et al started chipping at it. He’s not complete either.
Special pleading about using ascorbate, “more optimally with other adjuvants” doesn’t cut it.
Sorry you have such a penchant for ineffectiveness. That’s where the experimental literature for refractory cancer cells points for broader cell death/control. Not even Hoffer or Klenner advocated stand alone vitamin C for actual cancer cell attack. They felt it was a very important adjunct that still needed other teeth for metastatic. Mostly Pauling hoped to slow cancer down, neutralize stuff like histamine and ROS, improve immune/body functions, and gain quality of life.
Gave up on Orac a couple of years ago with his hysterical anti-alternative medicine stuff (though sometimes good stuff and valid denunciations in there too).
Am quite impressed with his recent postings, even on anti-Homeopathy (see his July 30th or so article).
Regarding cancer, I notice focus on obvious quacks, good article though but please… try and get into people with legitimate medical degrees and knowledge like Dr. William F. Koch and especially Dr. Revici, both MDs, both long lived, (Revici lived past 100 I think) both subject to horrible persecution for their cancer claims and yet both with some kind of positive record results or so it seems. I don’t have the knowledge to research cancer claims or counter claims, I ‘m still stuck on separating the genuine Homeopathy from the numerous variants which I find worthless. The genuine article? What exactly is it? NOW THAT’S the question, there is an answer but sorting through tens, or hundreds of books trying to piece it together is NOT easy. That’s what I do, focusing on the time period roughly 1880-1960, on people who had long careers as MDs, or MD/Homeopaths, particularly in the pre-antibiotic and pre modern surgery era, when there was a definite good reason to avoid conventional medicine and try alternatives.
One last comment regarding Homeopathy…. I see outstanding work, apparently, be people such as Banerji in India and I have Ramakrishnan’s book on Homeopathic treatment of cancer. Some of this modern stuff jives with stuff I’ve read in 100 year old books, almost as though it is being re-discovered and refined. Don’t know if any of it is valid but if it isn’t….there’s some really good placebo effecting going on. REALLY good.
FTFY, Citizen Jimserac.
@ Woo Fighter and Kelly M Bray
I am MD and PhD, and I have published papers in reputable scientific journals. If you want to make your own opinion, you can see my publications in researchgate (distinct from my homonym working on Parkinson).
Concerning cell inflation assisted chemotherapy, you can find easily the paper in Cancer Medicine, which is peer reviewed, and decide whether the future of cancer therapy is this kind of treatment or personalized medicine.
On the legitimacy question, let me tell you that I am the discoverer of oncogene induced genetic instability and of the involvement of the B cell receptor in lymphoma. So what would be your criteria to be legit?
Oh stomach acid leads to stomach cancer.
Visit us: http://www.empowereddoctor.com/8012/cancer-treatment-center-philadelphia/