detox
Yes, we have met him before. Recently, I came across Vickers again though one of my recent posts describing the story of a young Cambridge student who died following his advice.
Vickers describes himself as follows:
Dr. Patrick Vickers is the Creator and Founder of the Advanced Gerson Therapy Protocol; the world’s premier protocol for the treatment of cancer and degenerative disease. Chronicled in the epic documentary, The Truth About Cancer: A Global Quest, and a repeatedly invited guest on countless podcasts around the globe, Dr. Vickers is one of the most recognizable faces in natural medicine and the face of the Gerson Therapy around the world. His patient is also chronicled in the documentary, The Beautiful Truth.
At the age of 11, after witnessing a miraculous recovery from a chiropractic adjustment, Dr. Vickers’ passion for natural medicine was inspired. Born and raised outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Dr. Vickers obtained undergraduate degrees in Pre-Med from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and LIFE University in Marietta, Georgia before going on to receive his Doctorate of Chiropractic from New York Chiropractic College in Seneca Falls, New York in 1997.
While a student at NYCC, Dr. Vickers befriended the iconic Charlotte Gerson; the last-living daughter of Dr. Max Gerson, M.D. who Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, called, “The most eminent genius in medical history,” as Dr. Gerson was reversing a vast majority of degenerative diseases, including terminal cancer, up until his death in 1959. To date, eight movies have chronicled Dr. Gerson’s work.
Upon graduation and recognizing Dr. Vickers fervent passion for Dr. Gerson’s therapy, Charlotte Gerson invited Dr. Vickers to come live with her and study Dr. Gerson’s handwritten files of all his active patients from 1905-1959. Dr. Vickers remains one of the few people in the world to ever study Dr. Gerson’s personal files.
Fifteen years ago, seeing a desperate need to preserve Dr. Gerson’s legacy and the progression of his therapy, Dr. Vickers created the Advanced Gerson Therapy Protocol and Clinic which, rapidly, became the world’s premier clinic for the treatment of cancer and advanced disease.
With the rapidly changing, increasingly dangerous. societal, political and economic conditions in Mexico and around the world today, making it nearly impossible to efficiently, safely and peacefully carry out the Gerson Therapy in a clinical setting. Dr. Vickers has recently created his Three-Month, Advanced Gerson Protocol Home Program to replace all former, clinical operations. With no evidence to suggest that clinical outcomes are increased by receiving the Gerson Therapy in a clinical setting, Dr. Vickers remains dedicated to providing the most comprehensive, patient-centric protocol for cancer and degenerative disease while guaranteeing the greatest personalized attention and cost-effective solution available anywhere in the world today.
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Allow me to make just 7 short point based on Vickers statements:
- Dr. Patrick Vickers: he is a chiro and not a proper doctor (are US chiros allowed to treat cancer?*).
- the world’s premier protocol: I see no evidence for this claim.
- miraculous recovery from a chiropractic adjustment: it ought to be ‘miraculous’, as chiropractic adjustments are not based on evidence.
- Dr. Gerson was reversing a vast majority of degenerative diseases, including terminal cancer: there is no sound evidence that Gerson ever reversed a single case of cancer.
- the world’s premier clinic for the treatment of cancer and advanced disease: this must be the most pompous untruth I’ve heard for a long time.
- the most comprehensive, patient-centric protocol for cancer and degenerative disease: this must be the second most pompous untruth I’ve heard for a long time.
- cost-effective solution: I see no evidence for this claim.
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As Vickers seems a bit shy about disclosing all the facts, let me try to add to his CV what he seems to have forgotten:
Vickers founded and directed the Northern Baja Gerson Center in Rosarito, Mexico. The clinic offered treatments like:
Hyperthermia therapy (water based treatment)
Oxygen enhancement therapies
Ozone therapy
Hyperbaric oxygen chamber
Laetrile (B17)
High dose intravenous vitamin C
Chelation
Beamer math
Coley’s toxins therapy
Dendritic cell therapy
Infrared therapy
Frankincense oil
Natural enzymes
CoQ10
Due to “challenges” in operating clinics in Mexico, Vickers transitioned to offering his “Three-Month Advanced Gerson Protocol Home Program” whichincludes Gerson-specific supplies (e.g., coffee, flax oil, potassium powder), high-dose supplements like curcumin, selenium, CoQ10, and niacin, educational videos and regular consultations with Vickers and his team. The program is as unproven as Gerson’s original therapy. Vicker’s Medline-listed papers seem to amount to exactly zero!
Vickers asserts that Gerson Therapy is heavily censored by medical authorities and media due to its threat to the conventional medical industry. He cites alleged suppression of Dr. Gerson’s work as evidence. Vickers claims his therapy has the potential to disrupt the trillion-dollar medical industry. Vickers is active on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, sharing patient stories. He is a frequent guest on podcasts like BetterHealthGuy, Rational Wellness, and CancerTalks, discussing the Gerson therapy. Vickers’ approach is rooted in a belief that conventional cancer treatments are limited or even detrimental and that the Gerson therapy offers a more natural, effective alternative. None of these claims are supported by sound evidence.
Kay Allison “Kate” Shemirani (born 1965) is, according to Wikipedia, a British conspiracy theorist, anti-vaccine activist and former nurse who lost her licence to practise in 2020 for misconduct. She is best known for promoting conspiracy theories about COVID-19, vaccinations and 5G technology. Shemirani has been described by The Jewish Chronicle as a leading figure of a movement that includes conspiracy theorists as well as far-left and far-right activists.
When Kate’s daughter, Paloma was diagnosed with cancer, doctors told her she had a high chance of survival with chemotherapy. But in 2024, seven months later, she died – having refused the treatment. Now Marianna Spring for the BBC reported that Paloma’s brothers blame their mother’s anti-medicine conspiracy theories for Paloma’s death aged 23. Here are a few excerpts of this excellent article:
Kate and her ex-husband, Paloma’s father Faramarz Shemirani, wrote to the BBC saying they have evidence “Paloma died as a result of medical interventions given without confirmed diagnosis or lawful consent”. Paloma’s elder brother Sebastian disagrees: “My sister has passed away as a direct consequence of my mum’s actions and beliefs and I don’t want anyone else to go through the same pain or loss that I have.” Both brothers believe social media companies should take stronger action against medical misinformation – which the BBC has found is being actively recommended on several major sites. “I wasn’t able to stop my sister from dying. But it would mean the world to me if I could make it that she wasn’t just another in a long line of people that die in this way,” says Gabriel.
It is getting harder to fight medical misinformation because of the prominence of figures such as Robert F Kennedy Jr, who have previously expressed unscientific views – says oncologist Dr Tom Roques, vice-president of the Royal College of Radiologists. When you have a US health and human services secretary “who actively promotes views like the link between vaccines and autism that have been debunked years ago, then that makes it much easier for other people to peddle false views,” he says. “I think the risk is that more harmful alternative treatments are getting more mainstream. That may do people more active harm.”
Paloma brothers say it was their father who first got into conspiracy theories, which piqued their mother’s interest. The children absorbed outlandish ideas, including that the Royal Family were shape-shifting lizards, says Gabriel. “As a young child, you trust your parents. So you see that as a truth,” he says.
According to her sons, Kate Shemirani’s anti-medicine views were accelerated in 2012, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Even though she had the tumour removed through surgery, she credits alternative therapies for her recovery. On social media, she explains how she used juices and coffee enemas, i.e. the Gerson therapy.
In late 2023, Paloma began to have chest pains and breathing difficulties. Eventually, her doctors gave her the diagnosis of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Untreated, this type of cancer can be fatal, but doctors told Paloma she had an 80% chance of recovery if she had chemotherapy.
Kate Shemirani texted Paloma’s boyfriend, Ander, to say: “TELL PALOMA NOT TO SIGN [OR] VERBALLY CONSENT TO CHEMO OR ANY TREATMENT.” Medical staff discussed safeguarding concerns about Paloma among themselves and wrote that they had “a concern regarding parental influence” on her. But they also thought that she did have the capacity to make her own decisions.
For advice, Paloma reached out to a former partner of Kate Shemirani called Patrick Vickers, an alternative health practitioner. When Paloma asked him about the “80% chance of cure” the doctors had said chemotherapy would offer, Mr Vickers said that was “exaggerated”. He encouraged her to start Gerson therapy and to maybe consider chemotherapy if her symptoms did not improve after six weeks. Mr Vickers told the BBC that any “assertions that I played a role in her [Paloma’s] death are legally inaccurate”.
Paloma made up her mind. She decided not to pursue chemotherapy – at least for the time being – and would try Gerson therapy to start with. Some of her friends noticed how she became more and more unwell. On one video call, Paloma said she had a new lump in her armpit, and her mother had told her it meant that the cancer was going out of her body. Sebastian and Gabriel were so worried that Gabriel started a legal case. He was not arguing Paloma did not have capacity, but he wanted an assessment of the appropriate medical treatment for her.
But events overtook them and the case ended without a conclusion in July – because Paloma had died. She had suffered a heart attack caused by her tumour. She was taken to hospital, but after several days, her life support was switched off.
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Another tragic and avoidable death brought about by the dreadful Gerson therapy. We have discussed this treatment many times before, e.g.:
- Gerson diet almost killed a former model
- The Gerson Therapy: possibly the worst cancer quackery of them all
- ‘Censored for curing cancer’: the Gerson therapy re-visited
- Gerson therapy: a treatment to avoid at all cost
If only Paloma had looked at my blog! I could have easily met up with her and tried to persuade her to save her own life.
Watch out for one of my next posts; it will focus on the above-cited Patrick Vickers.
- the safety of oil pulling is assumed but has not actually been tested;
- the cost-effectiveness of oil pulling is assumed but has not actually been tested;
- efficiency means the quality of achieving the largest amount of useful work using as little energy as possible and is meaningless in this context. I suspect the authors meant “effectiveness” which is also wrong because it is not evidence-based.
In case you want an evidence-based text about oil pulling, I refer you to a previous post of mine which, in fact, refers to my book in which the treatement was discussed together with 201 further modalities:
So, what is oil pulling? It is the use of oil for swishing it around your mouth for alleged health benefits. Here are several short points that might explain it more fully:
- Oil pulling is said to have roots that reach back to ancient Hindu texts. Coconut or sesame oils are usually employed for this therapy.
- The mechanism of action (if there is one at all) is poorly understood, and several theories have been put forward:
Alkali hydrolysis of fat results in saponification or “soap making” process. Since the oils used for oil pulling contain fat, the alkali hydrolysis process emulsifies the fat into bicarbonate ions, normally found in the saliva. Soaps then blend in the oil, increase the surface area of the oil, and thus cleanse the teeth and gums.
A second theory suggests that the viscous nature of the oil inhibits plaque accumulation and adhesion of bacteria.
A third theory holds that the antioxidants present in the oil prevent lipid peroxidation, resulting in an antibiotic-like effect helping in the destruction of microorganisms.
- Oil pulling is recommended to be carried out in the morning on an empty stomach. About 10 ml of oil is swished between the teeth for a duration of approximately 15-20 min and spat out. This ritual should be followed by rinsing and tooth brushing. The practice should be repeated regularly, even three times daily for acute diseases.
- To my surprise, oil pulling has been tested in clinical trials. Some of these investigations seem reasonably sound and suggest that coconut oil pulling reduces potentially harmful bacteria in the mouth.[1] This effect has been shown to lead to a reduction in dental plaque formation[2] , halitosis (bad breath) [3] and gingivitis. [4]
- The evidence for these oral effects is by no means strong, but I have not found studies that show negative results.
- Dentists – even the bizarre species of ‘holistic dentists‘ – do not seem to be balled over by oil pulling (some malicious minds might speculate that this is so because they cannot earn much money with it).
- The claimed benefits of oil pulling are, however, not limited to the oral cavity. It is advocated also for the prevention and treatment of conditions such as headaches, migraines, thrombosis, eczema, diabetes and asthma.[5] Some proponents also claim that oil pulling is a detox therapy. Unsurprisingly, none of these claims are supported by good evidence.
- As long as you don’t swallow the oil, there are no serious risks associated with oil pulling.
So, what is the conclusion? To me, the evidence looks promising as far as oral health is concerned. For all other indication, oil pulling is neither plausible nor evidence-based.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27891311
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18408265
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21911944
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) tends to prioritize inherent general immunity instead of vaccination, thereby contributing to widespread vaccine hesitancy or refusal amidst the general public. The objective of this investigation was to furnish evidence regarding the profiles and drivers of seasonal influenza vaccine hesitancy (IVH) among TCM clinicians. Between January and May 2022, the Chinese researchers conducted a nationwide survey in China with embedded an influenza vaccine hesitancy scale to 3085 registered clinicians (1013 TCM and 2072 Western medicine (WM) clinicians).
The results suggest that TCM clinicians exhibit lower possibility of influenza vaccine uptake and are less likely to recommend the immunisation to the patients. 58.3 % TCM clinicians and 52.3 % WM clinicians were categorized as being influenza vaccine hesitant. Compared to WM clinicians, TCM clinicians have lower confidence in vaccine (p < 0.001) and are less inclined to accept others’ vaccination recommendation (p < 0.001). Higher educational attainment in TCM (postgraduate: OR = 1.98, 95 %CI,1.30–3.02; doctor: OR = 2.20, 95 %CI, 1.28–3.77) and ignorance of influenza vaccination cost policy (OR = 1.76, 95 %CI, 1.18–2.63) are significantly associated with increased influenza vaccine hesitancy.
The authors concluded that the concerns and doubts towards influenza vaccine is highly prevalent in the Chinese clinicians, especially those practicing TCM. High TCM educational degrees and ignorance of influenza vaccination cost policies are two primary risk factors for developing influenza vaccine hesitancy.
The findings are, I think, far from surprising. There is plenty of evidence about the negative stance towards influenza and other vaccination that practitioners or proponents of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) display, e.g.:
- Do views about so-called alternative medicine (SCAM), nature and god influence people’s vaccination intentions?
- Use of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) and its association with SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status
- Chiropractors Aren’t The Solution To The Primary Care Shortage: the thorny issue of vaccination
- An osteopath and anti-vaccination activist received a well-deserved and long-overdue indefinite suspension
- Prison sentence for a German HEILPRAKTIKER who issued false vaccination certificates
- Interest in so-called alternative medicine is linked to vaccination coverage
- Naturopath jailed for selling fraudulent vaccination documents
- Vaccination rates of Canadian healthcare professionals: those of chiropractors and naturopaths are at the lowest
- A Professor for Integrative and Anthroposophical Medicine claims that severe adverse effects of COVID vaccinations are 40 times more frequent than officially recognized
- Preference of so-called alternative medicine predicts negative attitudes to vaccination
- Intelligence, Religiosity, SCAM, Vaccination Hesitancy – are there links?
- A well-known opponent of vaccination has died of COVID after self-treatment with MMS
- The International Chiropractors Association’s Statement on Vaccination
- A naturopath promoting fake news about COVID vaccinations
- More information on homeopaths’ and anthroposophic doctors’ attitude towards vaccinations
- The UK Society of Homeopaths, a hub of anti-vaccination activists?
- HOMEOPATHY = “the complete alternative to vaccination” ?!?!
- Are anthroposophy-enthusiasts for or against vaccinations?
- Far too many chiropractors believe that vaccinations do not have a positive effect on public health
- Naturopaths’ counselling against vaccinations could be criminally negligent
- HOMEOPATHS AGAINST VACCINATION: “The decision to vaccinate and how you implement that decision is yours and yours alone”
- Use of alternative medicine is associated with low vaccination rates
- Integrative medicine physicians tend to harbour anti-vaccination views
- Vaccination: chiropractors “espouse views which aren’t evidence based”
With so much evidence and unquestionable serious harm being caused by these SCAM anti-vaxxers, the obvious question is this:
WHY IS SO LITTLE BEING DONE ABOUT IT?
This paper explored the intersection of science and pseudoscience in online discourse about detoxification, investigating how and to what extent they coexist on the web. Drawing on previous studies of internet health scams, it examines the discursive strategies used to either validate or refute alternative detox treatments. Using a corpus-assisted discourse studies approach, the present study analyses a corpus of texts (167,177 tokens) about detoxification randomly collected from the web.
The results show that corrective messages debunking the detox myth make up less than 10% of the corpus. Furthermore, many keywords in the corpus, such as “toxin(s),” are subject to constant renegotiation. Advocates of so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) use the term “toxin(s)” to justify detox treatments, while scientists criticize it as pseudoscientific.
The authors conclude thaat their study highlights how terminological ambiguity facilitates the mixing of science and pseudoscience, confusing readers. It also highlights the role of language in health-related misinformation and calls for interdisciplinary research to develop educational tools for health professionals.
Corpus-assisted discourse studies (CADSs) are related historically and methodologically to the discipline of corpus linguistics. Their principal endeavor is the investigation and comparison of features of particular discourse types, integrating into the analysis the techniques and tools developed within corpus linguistics. These include the compilation of specialised corpora and analyses of word and word-cluster frequency lists, comparative keyword lists and, above all, concordances. A broader conceptualisation of corpus-assisted discourse studies would include any study that aims to bring together corpus linguistics and discourse analysis.
The findings of this CADS can hardly surprise anyone who has been following this blog. We have often discussed the problem of pseudo-scientific language and the confusion it creates. Likewise, we have repeatedly dealt with the ‘detox myth’ and how it is being used by advocates of SCAM.
What is new is the finding that only 10% of of the discourse seems to come from people who debunk the ‘detox myth’. This is, of course, disappointing but not really surprising considering how much virtually the entire SCAM business relies on it.
So, to make it clear yet again:
- A toxin is a substance that is poisonous to our body.
- No ‘detox’ method from the realm of SCAM has been shown to remove a toxin from the human body.
As always, I would be delighted to learn more and to correct these statements, provided someone shows me good evidence to the contrary.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is coming out with so much stupidity, ignorance and quackery that it is getting difficult to keep up. A recent article reported that he touted two particular medications that have not been shown to work as first-line treatments for measles:
- the steroid budesonide,
- the antibiotic clarithromycin.
Kennedy claimed on X that the medications had been instrumental in treating around 300 children in Texas, and told Fox News that doctors prescribing them had seen “very, very good results.”
Consequently, families in Texas have turned to questionable remedies — in some cases, also prompted by the recommendation of two Texas doctors, Dr. Ben Edwards and Dr. Richard Bartlett. Kennedy called Edwards and Bartlett “extraordinary healers” who have “treated and healed” hundreds of children with budesonide and clarithromycin, sharing a photo of himself and the doctors with three Mennonite families whose children had become ill. Two of the families had each recently lost a daughter to measles: 6-year-old Kayley Fehr died in February and 8-year-old Daisy Hildebrand died last week. Neither child was vaccinated.
Edwards, a conventionally trained doctor who has shifted to promoting natural remedies and prayer, has been operating a makeshift clinic in Seminole, offering children these unproven treatments — including, according to a video posted by an anti-vaccine group, while he said he was sick with measles. Edwards has allied himself with the anti-vaccine movement in recent months, hosting influencers and activists on his podcast, including Andrew Wakefield.
“There is no evidence to support the use of either aerosolized budesonide or clarithromycin for treatment of children with measles,” said Dr. Adam Ratner, a spokesman for the American Academy of Pediatrics. Prescribing treatments that have not been vetted in clinical trials amounts to experimenting on patients, added Dr. Susan McLellan, a professor in the infectious diseases division at the University of Texas Medical Branch.
During the measles outbreak, both Edwards and Bartlett have each warned of risks associated with the MMR vaccine: Edwards claimed, falsely, that it causes “potentially” hundreds of deaths a year and Bartlett has said that the complications caused by measles, including brain swelling and pneumonia, can also be caused by the vaccine. In reality, the MMR vaccine, which is only given to children with healthy immune systems, has been overwhelmingly safe since its approval more than five decades ago, and has saved an estimated 94 million lives worldwide.
Public health experts said touting these medications as first-line treatments sends the wrong message. “By mentioning such treatments without that context, RFK Jr. continues to distract away from the prevention measure that incontrovertibly works — the vaccine,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security
A national public health organization is calling for RFK Jr. to resign citing “implicit and explicit bias and complete disregard for science.” Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, said in a statement that concerns raised during Kennedy’s confirmation hearing last month have been realized, followed by massive reductions in staff at key health agencies.
What’s next? I aslk myself.
Perhaps homeopathy as a savior of the US healthcare system?
Watch this space.
As we all know, the FDA cannot require that dietary supplements be proven effective before they are sold. Yet, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. once said the FDA is exhibiting an “aggressive suppression” of vitamins, dietary supplements, and other substances and that he will end the federal agency’s “war on public health”.
With Kennedy now in the driver’s seat, the supplement industry expects to make bolder health claims for its products and to get the government, private insurers, and flexible spending accounts to pay for supplements, essentially putting them on an equal footing with FDA-approved pharmaceuticals.
The day Kennedy was sworn in as secretary of Health and Human Services, Trump issued a “Make America Healthy Again” agenda instructing health regulatory agencies to “ensure the availability of expanded treatment options and the flexibility for health insurance coverage to provide benefits that support beneficial lifestyle changes and disease prevention.” Kennedy added that dietary supplements are one key to good health. Supplement makers now want programs like health savings accounts, Medicare, and even benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, to pay for vitamins, fish oil, protein powders, herbal remedies and probiotics.
In speeches and in a pamphlet called “The MAHA Mandate,” Emord and alliance founder Robert Verkerk said Kennedy would free companies to make greater claims for their products’ alleged benefits. Emord said his group was preparing to sue the FDA to prevent it from restricting non-pharmaceutical products.
With their ‘Mandate’ Emord and Verkerk want “to shift the healthcare paradigm towards one that restores the health of the American people through a holistic and individual-centered approach that works with, rather than against, nature”.
But do they ever question whether:
- vitamins do anything at all to people who eat a normal diet?
- fish oil is effective and safe for which conditions?
- protein powders have any effects beyond eating a steak?
- herbal remedies generate more good than harm?
- probiotics work for which conditions?
The short answer is no. To me, it seems that the MAHA are as uninterested in the evidence regarding efficacy and safety (quite possible they know how flimsy it is) as they are keen on the promotion of quackery.
Today is World Cancer Day. It is an international day observed every 4 February to raise awareness about cancer, encourage its prevention, and mobilise action to address the global cancer epidemic. Cancer and so-called alternative medicine (SCAM) are closely linked, for instance, through the fact that large proportions of desperate cancer patients use SCAM, many in the hope to cure their disease. I have therefore often tried to instill some rational thought into the debate by discussing the emerging, largely negative evidence on SCAM for cancer. Here are just a few recent examples:
- Homeopathy as a therapy for cancer? A new review from India
- Geopathic stress allegedly can cause health issues such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis and cancer – BUT, PLEASE, DON’T BELIEVE SUCH NONSENSE!
- Homeopathic Cancer Therapy? No, no and no!
- Medicinal Mushrooms for Cancer?
- Bioenergy therapies for cancer: implausible, ineffective, and an unethical waste of money
- Camel urine as a treatment for cancer patients?
- Homeopathy for cancer? Unsurprisingly, the evidence is not positive.
- When an undercover journalist tests alternative cancer healers
To mark the day, I had a look at what people post on ‘X’ about SCAM and cancer cure. Here are some of the more amazing assumptions, claims and comments that I found (warts and all):
- The Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton has been diagnosed with Cancer – there is a high probability she has Turbo Cancer, caused by COVID-19 mRNA Vaccines she took in 2021.
- Blue butterfly pea flowers (Clitoria ternatea) is one of the best CANCER KILLING and CANCER PROTECTIVE plants available to man.
- Dandelion root far more effective in fighting cancer cells than chemotherapy.
- In Kenya, research shows 76% of cancer patient who turn to traditional medicine instead of chemotherapy have drastically improved.
- I’ve just been diagnosed w cancer and will approach it with nutrition, suppl,and cont’d exercise… other alternative therapies as well. Been an RN for decades and have witnessed the horrors and pitfalls of modern medicine. Must b your own best advocate.
- I had a niece, a cousin and a friend die same week of the big C. was an eye-opener for me cause chemo did not help them at all….so looked at the alternative medicine….down in Mexico. but it was too late. cancer spread like wildfire.
- I pray to God that no one has to suffer through cancer but I agree with you 1000% alternative medicine as a matter fact we already know that there are three that can cure cancer. I ivermectin is one and I can’t remember the other two.
- Cancer has been proven to be eliminated with alternative medicine you denounce without a single study. I’m starting to think you hate the American people.
- Next time you or your loved one gets cancer, use “alternative medicine“.
- Most Doctors use drugs for treatment of symptoms because that’s how they are trained. No nutrition or alternative medicine is taught or encouraged. In cancer treat Drs are required to only recommend chemo because they could lose their license for alternative nedicine referrals.
- Spiritual causes of illness, including cancer, are often explored within alternative approaches to healing and holistic philosophies. Although traditional medicine does not recognize spiritual causes, many spiritual traditions and energetic practices.
- I pray that you look to alternative medicine, don’t listen to the current medical model as it is designed to keep people sick, western medicine does not heal. Chinese medicine does like others around the world. A primary cause of cancer is parasites. Western medicine doesn’t look.
- Chemotherapy is brutal, attacking both cancer and healthy cells. Alternative solutions do exist, but mainstream medicine often won’t offer them. Take control of your research, explore your options, and question everything.
- I cured my cancer symptoms using alternative medicine, including Ayurveda. Not drugs.
- I’m a double cancer survivor and I was in a clinical trial testing chemo in 2013-2014. Chemo is poison and big pharma. Alternative medicine is better. Changed must be made. I love that PresidentTtump has done this. And I can’t wait for RFKJr to lead HHS.
- Cancer kills you if you follow the advice of the medical establishment. There are many alternative cures for cancer and even more ways to prevent it in the first place. Do some research into naturopathic medicine if you truly want to be healthy.
- Maybe Trump should redirect that 500 billion to alternative medicine/supplement/ivermectin research that will eradicate cancer. And what is causing cancer. Don’t need a mRNA cancer vaccine. We already have the tools to stop cancer.
- Please get checked for parasites which is what cancer is. Try alternative medicine and see how that works – I bet it does.
- I have a friend who cured her own breast cancer with alternative methods. There are cures out there. Mainstream medicine just won’t recognize them.
- Everything is fake in medical field nowadays. Not only petition but also pathogen hypothesis medical academic papers about virus, cancer etc.. We need to build an alternative medicine field ASAP.
- …
- …
[I could have gone on almost for ever]
I had not expected to find much wisdom on ‘X’, but what I did find truly horrified me. For every sensible Tweet, there seem to be 10 imbecillic and dangerous ones. Imaging a desperate cancer patient reads these lies, misleading claims, nonsensical statements and conspiracy theories!
To set the record straight, let me state these two simple facts:
There is no SCAM that would change the natural history of any form of cancer.
What is more, there never ill be one! As soon as a treatment might look promising as a cancer cure, it will be investigated by mainstream scientists and – if it turns out to be helpful – integrated into conventional oncology. In other words, it will become evidence-based medicine.
You don’t believe me without evidence?
Ok, then please read my book on the subject.
PS
And yes, there are some SCAMs that might have a role in improving QoL, but that’s a different topic.
We had to deal with Hongchi Xiao several times before:
- Slapping therapy? No thanks!
- China Power and Influence
- Slapping therapy: therapist arrested and charged with manslaughter by gross negligence
Slapping therapy is based on the notion that slapping patients at certain points of their body has positive therapeutic effects. Hongchi Xiao, a Chinese-born investment banker, popularised this SCAM which, he claims, is based on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine. It is also known as ‘Paida’—in Chinese, this means ‘to slap your body’. The therapy involves slapping the body surface with a view of stimulating the flow of ‘chi’, the vital energy postulated in Traditional Chinese Medicine. Slapping therapists believe that this ritual restores health and eliminates toxins. They also claim that the bruises which patients tend to develop after the treatment are the visible signs of toxins coming to the surface. Hongchi Xiao advocates slapping as “self-healing method” that should be continued until the skin starts looking bruised. He and his follows conduct workshops and sell books teaching the public which advocate slapping therapy as a panacea, a cure-all. The assumptions of slapping therapy fly in the face of science and are thus not plausible. There is not a single clinical trial testing whether slapping therapy is effective. It must therefore be categorised as unproven.
Now it has been reported that Hongchi Xiao has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for the death of a 71-year-old diabetic woman who stopped taking insulin during one of his workshops.
Hongchi Xiao, 61, was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence for failing to get medical help for Danielle Carr-Gomm as she howled in pain and frothed at the mouth during the fourth day of a workshop in October 2016. The Californian healer promoted paida lajin therapy which entails getting patients to slap themselves repeatedly to release “poisonous waste” from the body. The technique has its roots in Chinese medicine and has no scientific basis and patients often end up with bruises, bleeding — or worse.
Xiao had extradited from Australia, where he had been convicted of manslaughter after a 6-year-old boy died when his parents withdrew his insulin medication after attending one of his workshops in Sydney. “I consider you dangerous even though you do not share the characteristics of most other dangerous offenders,” Justice Robert Bright said during sentencing at Winchester Crown Court. “You knew from late in the afternoon of day one of the fact that Danielle Carr-Gomm had stopped taking her insulin. Furthermore, you made it clear to her you supported this.” Bright added Xiao only made a “token effort” to get Carr-Gomm to take her insulin once it was too late and had shown no sign of remorse as he even continued to promote paida lajin in prison.
Carr-Gomm was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1999 and was desperate to find a cure that didn’t involve injecting herself with needles, her son, Matthew, said. She sought out alternative treatments and had attended a previous workshop by Xiao in Bulgaria a few months before her death in which she also became seriously ill after ceasing her medication. However, she recorded a video testimonial, calling Xiao a “messenger sent by God” who was “starting a revolution to put the power back in the hands of the people to cure themselves and to change the whole system of healthcare.”
Xiao had congratulated Carr-Gomm when she told other participants at the English retreat that she had stopped taking her insulin. By day three, Carr-Gomm was “vomiting, tired and weak, and by the evening she was howling in pain and unable to respond to questions,” prosecutor Duncan Atkinson said.
A chef who wanted to call an ambulance said she deferred to those with holistic healing experience. “Those who had received and accepted the defendant’s teachings misinterpreted Mrs. Carr-Gomm’s condition as a healing crisis,” Atkinson said.
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A healing crisis?
A crisis of collective stupidity, I’d say!
More reason to worry about our royal family? Apparently, Camilla (I apologise for calling her thus, as I am never entirely sure whether she is Queen or Queen Consort: Camilla, the wife of Prince Charles, will be formally known as Queen Consort now that her husband is King12. When Camilla and Charles married in a civil ceremony in 2005, it was announced Camilla would become known as Princess Consort – rather than Queen Consort – due to public sensitivity3. However, Queen Elizabeth II granted her the title of Queen Consort in February last year during the Platinum Jubilee45.) has been urged to take more time to recover after a bout of pneumonia.
At the start of November it was announced that she had been diagnosed with a ‘chest infection’ and was under doctors’ supervision. The 77-year-old Camilla was forced to withdraw from her engagements so she could rest at home. She has now revealed that she was suffering from a form of pneumonia.
It is understood Camilla’s condition was viral. She seems to be suffering significantly diminished reserves of energy following her chest infection. This led to her having to pull out of a number of events over recent weeks. Even though the lung infection has now cleared, she says she is still feeling tired. She has been advised by her doctors to take more time to recover. It was confirmed yesterday on the eve of the state visit that the Queen was also reducing her role at the glam state banquet later on Dec. 3 in light of her health.
So, is there anything special that might have triggered this unfortunate turn of events? To answer this question, I refer you to my post of 31 October this year:
… King Charles arrived in Bengaluru directly from Samoa, where he attended the 2024 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting from October 21-26. His visit to Bengaluru was strictly kept under wraps, and he was directly taken to Soukya International Holistic Health Centre (SIHHC), where he was also joined by his wife, Camilla.
According to sources, the couple’s day begins with a morning yoga session, followed by breakfast and rejuvenation treatment before lunch. After a brief rest, a second round of therapies follows, ending with a meditation session before dinner and lights out by 9 pm. They have been enjoying long walks around the campus, visiting the organic farm and cattle shed. Considering the high-profile secret visit, a high-security ring was thrown around SIHHC.
The health centre, founded by Dr. Issac Mathai, is located in Samethanahalli, Whitefield, on Bengaluru’s outskirts. This integrative medical facility combines traditional systems of medicine, including Ayurveda, Homoeopathy, Yoga, and Naturopathy, along with over 30 complementary therapies like reflexology, acupuncture, and dietetics.
… The royal couple has earlier taken wellness treatments, including anti-ageing, detoxification and rejuvenation. On November 14, 2019, the couple celebrated the then Prince Charles’ 71st birthday at SIHHC, an event that attracted a lot of publicity, unlike this visit.
Yes, you may well ask: isn’t Ayurvedic medicine supposed:
- to strengthen the immune system,
- to fortify you against infections,
- to replenish your reserves of energy,
- to enable you to recover swiftly from infections?
Of course, I know, correlation is not causation! Perhaps the recent Ayurvedic pampering in India and Camilla’s inability to make a timely recovery from what started merely as a ‘chest infection’ are not at all linked in any way. Yet, it does seem tempting to speculate that the stay in the SIHHC with all the Ayurvedic medicine did her not a lot of good.
Whatever might be the case, I would like to take this opportunity to wish Camilla a full recovery for her condition.
