An
amazing multitude of different cancer cures have been
described in books and articles. Former cancer victims
have written about their recovery, which often involved
nothing more than living peacefully on an organic raw-food
diet. Others attribute their cure to immune-enhancing
factors, alternative technology or meditation and guided
imagery, sometimes to specific remedies, but commonly
in various combinations of any of these methods. There
are so many combinations and variations; the list seems
to be endless.
To
bring some order to this confusing diversity, I would
like to form a few broad categories in which the main
treatment is based either on nutrition, specific remedies,
and technology or mind improvement.
NUTRITION
CURES
One
of the simplest methods was used by the Danish doctor
Kristine Nolfi. She cured her own cancer with a hundred
percent organic and vegetarian raw-food diet, and then
continued to cure cancer patients in the same way on her
health farm. She lost her medical license for using 'dangerous'
and unapproved methods but her fame nevertheless spread
throughout Scandinavia. In New Zealand Dr Eva Hill did
much the same thing to cure her own cancer, and to help
many of her patients.
Ann
Wigmore pioneered and promoted wheat-grass juice after
curing her own cancer with it, in combination with an
organic vegetarian diet. Together with Victoras Kulvinskas
she formed the Hippocrates Health Institute in Boston,
and branches and health farms using wheat-grass juice
quickly sprang up in many countries. It is more effective
if a non-centrifugal juicer is used for making juices,
or possibly just a mincer with the juice pressed by hand.
In
South Africa, Johanna Brand, a naturopath, invented the
now famous grape cure by curing herself of stomach cancer
in the 1920's. For six weeks she ate nothing but grapes,
black varieties are the best. Thousands of former cancer
victims have testified as to the effectiveness of her
method. Because it is now so difficult to obtain unsprayed
grapes, commercially sprayed grapes have sometimes been
used after thorough washing in warm soapy water and careful
rinsing
The
Breuss-Cure, which originated in Germany, also lasts for
6 weeks; a maximum of 500 ml of freshly pressed vegetable
juices are used, mainly beetroot with some carrot, celery
and radish. In addition herbal teas and onion broth are
recommended. It too, is claimed to have cured thousands.
Hans
Nieper, a respected German cancer therapist (recently
deceased), used in addition to a good diet a wide range
of supplements to inhibit tumor growth, activate the immune
system, degrade the tumor with large-scale enzyme supplementation,
and strengthen the liver and general metabolism. Nieper
claimed a 50% survival rate of ‘terminal’ patients. If
patients survive for 18 months on this program, their
statistical life expectancy becomes about normal, unlike
with chemotherapy where life expectancy continues to drop
after 18 months.
Another
German cancer therapist, Dr J Kuhl, used a diet high in
lactic acid fermented foods with good results. Lactic
acid produced by a tumor rotates light to the left and
enhances tumor growth. Lactic acid produced by lactic
acid bacteria, on the other hand, rotates light to the
right and inhibits tumor growth.
Dr
Johanna Budwig, also in Germany, found high-quality linseed/flax
oil combined with ‘quark’ and a mainly vegetarian raw-food
diet most effective. Quark is the German word for cottage
cheese, but made from lactic acid fermented raw skim milk
as used by Budwig. This provides not only the beneficial
fermentation products, but also a high amount of sulfur-amino
acids. These are mainly cysteine and methionine, which
together with the polyunsaturated fatty acids in linseed/flax
oil can quickly restore the oxidative energy production
in and around tumors, and cause them to regress.
The
Bristol Cancer Help Centre in England, formerly under
the direction of Dr Alec Forbes, offers a wide-ranging
holistic program similar to the Mexican clinics. This
includes a vegetarian diet of largely raw foods, supplemented
by specific vitamins, minerals, enzymes, ginseng and liver
herbs, in addition to colonic cleansing, visualization,
biofeedback, relaxation, meditation and spiritual healing.
Dr
Maud Fere, in New Zealand, claimed success with a much
more limited program that had helped her to cure her own
bowel cancer. She advocated a good vegetarian diet, but
her main emphasis, similar to Max Gerson's, was that there
must be no salt in it. She also found it beneficial to
use diluted hydrochloric acid, diluted phosphoric acid,
ammonium chloride, and tincture of iodine.
Earlier
Are Waerland became famous for a successful diet that
consisted of sour milk and similar products, whole grains
raw or only partly cooked, as well as fruits and vegetables.
There are still many active Waerland groups in Germany
and Scandinavia. Bircher-Benner advocated a similar lacto-vegetarian
raw-food diet. He invented the by now famous but greatly
deteriorated muesli. The macrobiotic diet based on cooked
brown rice and only a minimum of raw food is very different
from all the other anti-cancer diets. It has a mild cleansing
action and some cancer victims claim to have been cured
with a strict macrobiotic diet.
From
1951 Dr A. Ferenczi in Hungary used large amounts of beetroot
successfully for tumor regression, up to 1 kg daily have
been used. The active ingredient is the purple coloring
containing anthocyanin. It is now also available as a
freeze-dried powder.
The
Gerson Therapy
Best
known is probably the Gerson therapy. Born in Germany,
Dr Max Gerson immigrated to the US in 1938. His diet consists
mainly of fresh, preferably organic, fruit and vegetables.
He stressed a high potassium content that is more in the
skins or outer part of root vegetables than in the centers.
Sodium, on the other hand, was to be severely restricted
- the diet was completely without added salt, but with
added potassium salts instead.
In
addition, Gerson prescribed hydrochloric acid with pepsin,
pancreatin, and high doses of Lugol's solution for iodine
together with freeze-dried thyroid, niacin, Royal Jelly
and injections of vitamin B12 with crude liver. In addition,
raw liver juice was used for its high content of enzymes.
Later, with increasing chemicalization of agriculture,
the liver juice was omitted while linseed/flax oil was
belatedly added to the list of supplements.
Liver
detoxification with frequent coffee enemas was another
cornerstone of the Gerson Therapy; otherwise patients
with advanced cancer might die despite disappearing tumors.
Gerson treated hundreds of so-called terminal cases of
which about 50 % recovered.
Dr
Issels used the Gerson therapy successfully in Germany.
In addition, he realized the harmful influence of dead
or infected teeth and mercury amalgam fillings on the
outcome of cancer therapy. Therefore, his patients had
to have all unhealthy teeth removed at the beginning of
the treatment.
The
Kelly approach
Dr
W. D. Kelly, an American dentist, was given only one month
to live with multiple tumors of the liver, pancreas and
other organs. He cured himself with a vegetarian raw-food
diet with the addition of various supplements, but especially
with high doses of pancreatin. Pancreas enzymes are very
effective in destroying tumors and sometimes even too
effective. Kelly, like Gerson and other holistic cancer
therapists, saw the greatest danger in a too rapid destruction
of the tumor that can kill the patient with poisons generated
by the disintegrating tumor proteins. He recommended daily
Epsom salts purges during the critical period and, if
required, also coffee enemas.
After
helping thousands of patients by supplying individualized
information to the patient's doctor, he believes that
cancer can usually be cured if there is at least one month,
but preferably three months, of life expectancy when starting
the program.
As
a simple, but somewhat expensive self-test for the early
detection of cancer before tumors can be found clinically,
he recommends taking six to eight pancreatin tablets after
each meal for four weeks. If you feel worse after these
four weeks with nausea, headaches or fatigue, there is
likely to be a cancerous condition. If you feel better
instead, brighter and with more energy, the condition
is pre-cancerous. If there is no difference there is probably
no early cancer, but there may already be a clinically
detectable malignant tumor present.
Kelley
has an extensive documentation with 10,000 medically verified
diagnoses. In one study all his cases of pancreas cancer
were investigated. With conventional treatment there were
virtually no survivors after 5 years. He had 22 cases
on record. Of these, 10 never started the treatment and
survived for 67 days. 7 followed it partially and survived
an average of 233 days, while the 5 who followed the Kelley
treatment completely all recovered completely.
Aajonus
Vonderplanitz, in California, claims great success in
overcoming advanced cancer with a raw-food diet that includes
raw (organic) meat, see his book We Want to Live (1997).
REMEDIES
& HERBS
I
recently read that about ten thousand Americans a day
cross the border into Mexico for medical treatment. Many
of these have US health insurance that is not valid in
Mexico. For some the attraction may be cheaper treatment,
and for others a more humane face of medicine, but the
most important draw card would be the fact that all holistic
cancer clinics have effectively been eliminated in the
US, and are now just south of the border down Mexico way.
While these clinics also give dietary advice, they rely
mainly on specific remedies, such as laetrile, ozone therapy,
herbs and specific immune enhancing measures, but also
visualization and meditation.
Many
thousands of former cancer victims have attested to the
beneficial effects of laetrile in the treatment of their
disease. While not a cure in itself, laetrile has been
found in clinical trials to reduce or eliminate cancer-related
pain, improve the appetite with weight gain in underweight
patients, eliminate the typical nauseating cancer odor
in terminal wards and induce a sense of well-being and
hope. In animal experiments also tumor inhibition was
evident. Initially, laetrile commonly is injected, several
grams daily, while oral doses of similar amounts may continue
for a year or more. Animal experiments showed similar
benefits to those from laetrile even when just bitter
almonds or apricot kernels were eaten. These are also
commonly used in countries where the availability of laetrile
is restricted or where its use is illegal.
Garlic
is frequently used as a supporting remedy in the treatment
of cancer. It has proven anti-cancer properties. Not only
does it protect against the formation of tumors, including
metastases, it also inhibits the growth of established
tumors. In addition, it strengthens the immune system
and improves the detoxifying ability of the liver.
Two
other remedies used widely in the Mexican and other cancer
clinics are Vitamin C, and hydrazine sulfate. Linus Pauling
and Ewan Cameron pioneered Vitamin C treatment for cancer,
and found greatly increased survival times for terminal
cancer patients with 10 g of Vitamin C daily. Now it is
sometimes used in even larger amounts, just below the
threshold where it causes diarrhea, initially it may also
be infused intravenously.
Hydrazine
sulfate was discovered by Dr Joseph Gold for use in cancer
treatment. It blocks a liver enzyme which converts the
lactic acid produced by a tumor back into glucose, a reaction
which takes much more energy from the patient than it
generates. It was mainly used with ‘terminal’: patients
who reported improved appetite, normalized weight, increased
strength and less pain. However, presently it is increasingly
used in earlier stages and more and more patients claim
that their tumors have disappeared.
Another
group of remedies is specifically designed to stimulate
the immune system. In the 1950s Krebiozen made headlines
in the US, promoted by a respected scientist, Dr Andrew
Ivy. Five hundred doctors used it, and 20,000 testimonials
of cancer victims stood behind Dr Ivy and his co-workers
at their trial. They were acquitted, but the AMA succeeded
in blacklisting Krebiozen.
Dr
B Coley was an early US cancer pioneer who used a special
vaccine to induce fever and inflammation in cancer patients.
Out of 500 cases half remained free of malignancy during
follow-up for 5-54 years.
Virginia
Livingston-Wheeler, an US microbiologist, combined a vegetarian
diet with a vaccine prepared from the patient's own body
fluids. Most widely used, however, especially in Germany,
are vaccines related to the tubercle bacillus that were
developed by Prof Enderlein.
In
Japan, Dr Hasumi claims outstanding success in curing
cancer with a vaccine made from the patient's own urine;
however it works only if the immune system is still sufficiently
strong.
In
addition to the successful homeopathic cancer treatment
by the US doctor E G Jones before homeopathy was outlawed,
Dr W F Koch also gained the support of thousands of patients
with his homeopathic oxidation catalyst. Mistletoe, too,
is often given in homeopathic form. A ‘folk healer’ told
me that he found Ammon. Carb. 30 excellent for cancers
in animals as well as in humans.
Somewhat
hard to take for many is urine therapy. J W Armstrong
in his book The Water of Life relates many cases of medically
diagnosed cancer that appeared to be cured after a urine
fast usually lasting for about three weeks, drinking nothing
but one's own urine and additional water. With this, Armstrong
regarded cancer as rather easy to cure; ’child's play’
he called it, except if someone had previously already
received medical treatment.
The
Greek Professor of Internal Medicine, E.V. Danopoulus,
discovered that urea was the most potent anti-cancer factor
in urine. At first he treated several liver cancer patients
with it who recovered, and then he also used it successfully
with many other advanced cancers. However, after the publication
of his results in the Lancet in 1974 he experienced increasing
harassment and retired from medical practice.
Dr
William Lane in the US noticed that sharks do not develop
cancer. This prompted him to experiment with good results
with shark cartilage that is now commercially available.
Liquid bovine cartilage appears now to be preferable to
shark cartilage. Also shark oil is useful.
Gaston
Naessens in Canada was successful curing cancer by injecting
a modified camphor compound into lymph nodes to strengthen
the immune system. He claims a long-term remission rate
of 75%. His remedy, called 714-X, is now available from
Canada and New Zealand.
Thousands
of cancer victims, in East European and other poor countries,
claim to have been cured by taking refined kerosene. That
apparently kills the cancer microbe and possibly cancer
cells as well.
Dr
Seeger, the German cancer researcher, found Zell Oxygen
most helpful to ‘normalize’ cancer cells by restarting
their oxidative energy production. Zell Oxygen is a culture
of special young yeast cells very high in oxygenating
enzymes. It works best combined with Royal Jelly. Wobe-mugos
is imported from Germany and contains proteolytic enzymes
from hydrolyzed beef pancreas, thymus and other glands.
It is claimed to be very beneficial in so-called terminal
conditions.
Herbal
Remedies
Essiac
(Ojibway Indian Tea) is another famous cancer herb mixture
developed about 1922 by the Canadian nurse Rene Caisse.
In 1937 the Royal Cancer Commission found that Essiac
was effective against cancer and in 1938 Essiac came within
three votes of being legalized as a remedy for terminal
cancer. After this, Rene received special permission to
treat terminal cancer patients but was not allowed to
take money for it. At the time of her death in 1978 the
Canadian Ministry of Health & Welfare destroyed her
huge collection of documents and patient files on the
effectiveness of Essiac.
The
four ingredients are rhubarb root, burdock root and slippery
elm as blood purifiers and the tops of young sheep's sorrel
(Rumen acetosella) to destroy cancer cells. The use of
Essiac is gradually spreading to other countries but there
is also a warning that some distributors have substituted
yellow dock or curly dock for the essential sheep's sorrel.
A
tea made from leaves and stems or twigs of papaw is another
traditional cancer remedy. It was revealed to Stan Sheldon
on the Queensland Gold Coast in 1962, who cured his rapidly
spreading tumors in both lungs within two months. This
remedy is now widely used throughout Queensland. According
to an article in New Scientist, a chemical has been discovered
in one kind of papaw, which is one billion times more
effective against cancer cells than presently used anti-cancer
drugs. An Aboriginal cancer remedy is the maroon bush,
while the use of mistletoe preparations is based on ancient
European folklore and recommendations by Rudolf Steiner.
Jethro
Kloss was a well-known early American herbalist of the
‘old school’. For cancer treatment he used mainly red
clover blossoms, violet leaves and flowers, the roots
of burdock and yellow dock, golden seal, echinacea, aloes,
agrimony, dandelion root, supposedly with good success.
Even
more famous and most widely used in many countries, is
the Hoxsey herb mixture. It originated about 1925 in the
US with thousands of patients attesting to its usefulness
in overcoming their cancer. The internal remedy consists
of amarga, berberis root, buckthorn bark, burdock, licorice,
pokeroot, prickly ash, red clover, stillingia root and
potassium iodide. There were also three external remedies
to be painted on any visible tumors to make them dry up
and fall out. Presently mainly Herbveil 8 and KC101 (in
NZ) and cansema are being used for melanoma and other
skin cancers as well as tumors close to the skin, such
as breast tumors.
Jason
Winters described his own cure from terminal cancer in
his book 'Killing Cancer'. In addition to diet, he used
red clover, chaparral, gotu kola, selenium and some not
well-defined roots and spices in his herb mixture, which
is not available in most countries.
ALTERNATIVE
TECHNOLOGY
Ozone
therapy has been pioneered in Germany, and it is used
there as well as in the Mexican cancer clinics by thousands
of doctors, not only for treating cancer, but also AIDS,
and other serious infectious diseases. Generally about
220 ml of the patient's blood is mixed with ozone, often
under pressure, and then re-injected into a vein. This
kills not only cancer cells and the cancer microbe in
the treated blood but in the whole body, while the immune
system is strengthened at the same time. Where ozone therapy
is not available, patients commonly take diluted hydrogen
peroxide.
A
similar beneficial effect is achieved with overheating
a tumor. Cancer cells are damaged or weakened by temperatures
of 42-43ºC, which are still harmless for normal cells.
To overheat internal tumors, daily bath temperatures are
gradually raised over a period of weeks or months up to
47ºC. Various precautions are required, especially the
blood sugar level needs to be kept artificially low during
treatment; otherwise tumor growth may be stimulated if
temperatures are not quite high enough. As after ozone
therapy, the damaged tumor becomes highly responsive to
any additional holistic therapy. In addition, the blood
circulation is greatly increased.
The
south-pointing pole of a magnet inhibits not only microbes
but also cancer cells. Tumors could be inhibited or regressed
by long exposure to a strong south-pointing pole of 4000
gauss or more. This also appears to reduce pain, inflammation
and infections. Presently many cancer patients use electronic
zappers and magnetic pulsers with apparently good success.
The most commonly used varieties are the Hulda Clark zapper
and the Beck zapper or blood purifier, recommended to
be used in combination with oxygen therapy and colloidal
silver.
Similar
results may be achieved by radiating the tumor site with
strong blue light. An article in New Scientist revealed
that blue light inhibits cell divisions; it is also used
in some hospitals as the quickest cure for jaundiced babies.
The
Tronado machine is a German invention to shine very high
radio frequencies onto a tumor area. It overheats the
tumor and causes its destruction but unlike conventional
radio-therapy, it does not damage the surrounding healthy
tissue.
Dr
John Holt, a radio-therapist at the Sir Charles Gairdner
Hospital in Perth, managed with the help of the then Premier
of Western Australia, John Tonkin, to buy a Tronado for
the hospital, and in addition, one for his private clinic.
Holt treated more than seven thousand cancer patients
with the Tronado with remarkable results. At the same
time he continued to treat cancer patients at the hospital
with normal radiotherapy.
In
a published trial with head and neck cancers (for easy
verification of results) a 34 % initial success rate was
achieved with radiotherapy while after three years 17
% were still in remission. With the Tronado the initial
success was 92 % and after three years 68 %. However,
such are the mysterious ways of the medical profession
that only the Tronado in private practice could be used,
until quite recently the one installed at the hospital
was never allowed to be operated .
The
Roy Ray Rife electronic frequency instrument emitted waves
of a frequency that was specific to kill cancer cells.
Conventional research institutions confirmed a high success
rate before the AMA (US) took court action and destroyed
the treatment machines. Now there are replicas appearing,
some of which seem to be more effective than others.
The
US magazine The Choice (Spring 1990) published an article
about Nick van Echteld, who claims to have completely
recovered from terminal metastatic cancer in 1989. Echteld
attributes his remarkable cure to self-treatment with
a Rife instrument, while his orthodox specialists believe
instead in ‘spontaneous remission’ - a cure without cause.
Wilhelm
Reich attributed his success with terminal cancer patients
to their immersion in a strong field of bio-energy or
orgone, as he called it. Orgone accumulators are easy
to build with alternating layers of metal and organic
material. More recently ‘orgonite’ is being used, a mixture
of a resin with fine metal particles.
Harold
S Burr discovered the electric life fields around living
organisms. Tumors have an abnormal negative charge as
compared to the surrounding healthy tissue. In Sweden
Bjorn Nordenstrom used 10-volt needle-like electrodes
inserted into a tumor to destroy it. For external tumors,
I experimented with a large flat 1.5-volt positive electrode
on the tumor and the negative electrode on a healthy tissue
nearby.
Finally
I may mention that various cancer victims claim to have
been cured by psychic surgery, especially in the Philippines.
Also radionic instruments are sometimes claimed to be
successful with cancer.
MIND
IMPROVEMENT
Wilhelm
Reich discovered the harmful effects of repressed sexual
feelings in the development of cancer. His methods for
freeing up feelings and energy flows have become standard
practice in bio-energy therapy and other holistic treatments.
Another
ten-year study published in the Lancet, of women with
advanced metastatic breast cancer found that just belonging
to a support group and meeting once a week, doubled the
life span as compared to a control group that had medically
been treated in the same way. In addition to some well-known
support groups, such as those run by the Bristol clinic
in England, or Ian Gawler's support group in Victoria
(Australia), there are now small groups, often in connection
with meditation groups, in many cities.
Well
known for his meditation work with cancer patients was
Dr A Meares of Melbourne. In the US the Simontons have
pioneered guided imagery in cancer treatment. They showed
that survival times with terminal cancers can be doubled
in this way. Characteristics in patients, which they found
to be associated with above average results are emotional
resilience, flexible beliefs, physical activity, strong
self-concept and social autonomy. Many cancer patients
have been greatly helped and seem to have recovered mainly
because they learned to express their feelings and emotions
and they moved towards fulfilling their emotional needs.
Of
all the published, properly randomized clinical trials,
psychotherapy is by far the most effective cancer therapy.
Eysenk and Grossarth-Maticek (Behavior Research and Therapy
1991; 29 (1):17-31) found that 13 years after extended
individual therapy none of 50 patients in the treated
cancer-prone group had died but 32 percent in the control
group. With group therapy, after 7 years, there were18
out of 239 cancer death in the treated group, compared
to 111 of the 234 in the control group. With terminal
cancer patients the increased survival time was 64% and
women with metastasized breast cancer lived about twice
as long.
The
most powerful setback to recovery, on the other hand,
is a medical pronouncement that the condition in incurable
and terminal, especially if a time limit is mentioned.
This then becomes a self-fulfilling hypnotic suggestion;
just like "pointing the bone" in other cultures
and it is then difficult for a holistic therapist to change
this medically implanted death wish into hope and faith
that are the keys for recovery.
The
most promising therapy appears to be The New Medicine
of the much-persecuted German Dr Hamer. He claims a 95%
success rate by discovering and eliminating the emotional
shock that triggered the development of cancer, commonly
one to two years before its diagnosis. I prefer a combination
of Dr Hamer’s approach, with an organic raw-food diet
that is suitable for the metabolic type of the patient.
For my 8-part series on natural cancer treatment see Overcoming
Cancer.
