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The world lost a true visionary yesterday with the passing of Steve Jobs, former CEO of Apple. I remember back in the late 80’s when I was a young computer programmer/designer fresh out of grad school using the (Apple) MacIntosh computer for the very first time.
The MacIntosh user interface was so intuitive and such a leap ahead of the predominant Microsoft DOS operating system (remember? type commands at the green screen prompt) that I thought I had died and gone to heaven.
This new and emerging user interface in the 1980s that is taken for granted today rocketed the task of computer design light years ahead and allowed the development of computer systems to at last be something users could be involved in and easily understand.
There is no doubt that Steve Jobs’ passing at 56 years old was premature. He had much more to contribute to the world and I for one feel the world has been cheated now that he is gone.
Pictures of him in his final days showed a frail, shockingly thin frame consistent with a person who had undergone chemotherapy treatments for cancer.
While every single detail of Mr. Jobs’ cancer treatments over the years are not publicly known, one can’t help but wonder if his chemotherapy and radiation treatments contributed to his demise.
Just a few weeks ago, Kara Kennedy, daughter of the late Senator Edward Kennedy died at age 51 from a heart attack. Her brother, Patrick Kennedy said that her many years of chemotherapy to treat lung cancer took a severe toll on her health and weakened her physically to the point where “her heart just gave out.”
Is Conventional Treatment for Cancer Worse Than the Disease?
It seems that chemotherapy/radiation treatments causing death rather than preserving life are becoming more common.
Radiation in particular ups the risk of heart problems in women undergoing conventional treatment for breast cancer. The May 2000 issue of The Lancet reported that women who had undergone radiation for breast cancer increased their odds of dying from other causes, usually heart related, by 21% compared with women who had not undergone radiation with the 20 year survival rate for breast cancer improving by only 1%.
Does that seem worth it to you? It sure doesn’t to me.
Chemotherapy is another conventional treatment for cancer that seems to hasten people’s death. The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death in the UK reported that its review of 600 cancer patients who died within 30 days of treatment revealed that over one quarter had in fact been killed by the chemo and not cancer.
The extreme toxicity of chemo treatments is what causes the rapid demise, usually infections such as the very serious neutropenic sepsis.
In the case of Mr. Jobs, this appears to be what happened. According to reports from multiple sources, he had received chemotherapy treatments in recent months at the Stanford Cancer Center in Palo Alto California and his devastating physical deterioration from these treatments almost certainly contributed to his quick passing.
Would You Ever Use Chemo or Radiation to Treat Cancer?
If you received a cancer diagnosis, would you ever agree to chemotherapy or radiation treatments or would you explore nontoxic alternative therapies?
I, for one, would not consider conventional cancer treatment as such an approach to disease seems more than a little misguided. How can use of toxic chemicals and/or radiation possibly be beneficial when both of these treatments actually have been shown to cause cancer in the long run?
It seems that a more holistic approach to cancer would be wiser than the slash and burn approach of conventional cancer treatments.
In his article A Holistic Approach To Cancer, Dr. Tom Cowan MD writes:
“… the job of the doctor is to distinguish between the therapy and the illness. What I mean by that is if you get a splinter in your finger, and then your body makes pus to get the splinter out, is the pus the therapy or the disease? We know that pus indicates infection and the presence of microorganisms, and we learned in medical school that doctors should kill the pus. But I don’t think it is that far of a stretch to see that if you have a splinter in your finger, the pus is the therapy for the splinter. If you don’t take the splinter out, the pus will do it for you. If you mistakenly think that the pus is the disease and you destroy the pus, the splinter will stay and your body will attempt this process again. If you destroy the pus again, your body might repeat this process three or four more times. Then you have a chronic infection as the body keeps trying to remove the splinter. Eventually it will either succeed, or it will encapsulate the splinter, which is a tumor, a new growth. It is not a cancerous tumor but a benign cystic tumor of the splinter. The understanding that the pus is the therapy allows you to predict what is going to happen in the future.
Now think of this example. Joe Bloke is a smoker. In other words, he puts a bunch of splinters in his lungs every day. Twice a year Joe gets cough, fever, mucus–all to get the splinters out of his lungs. I prefer to say “cough, fever, mucus” rather than “bronchitis” because the word “bronchitis” separates you from the reality of the situation. His body is producing an inflammatory response–it is making a mucus-pus-fever response to cleanse his lungs of splinters. If Joe goes to a doctor who makes the mistake of thinking that the response is the problem, he will give drugs to stop the bronchitis–which is actually the medicine. So Joe will be left with the splinters. That scenario will happen twice a year for thirty years and then Joe has a big bag of splinters in his lungs, and we call that lung cancer.”
Holistic approaches to cancer help resolve whatever caused the cancer in the first place. Conventional chemo/radiation treat only the “pus” of the cancer as described by Dr. Cowan.
Stopping cancer symptoms by “killing” the cancer cells with chemo or radiation is not in any way a cure as Mr. Jobs tragically discovered in his long running quest to regain his health.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist.com
Source: Doctors Rely on Chemo Too Much
I don’t have cancer and neither do my children or husband. I doubt I would get chemo. My husband probably would and my kids definitely would because niether my husband or I would have a choice.
Doesn’t sugar feed cancer?
Yes, sugar does feed cancer cells.
Dr. Otto Warburg: “All normal cells meet their energy needs by the respiration of oxygen, whereas cancer cells meet their energy needs in great part by fermentation.” “.. cancer cells can actually grow in the body almost with only the energy of fermentation.”
And the fuel of fermentation ist SUGAR.
Do not forget: all carbohydrates = sugar!
This may seem like an odd question in an era where the assumption is that a cancer diagnosis automatically means… http://t.co/Ug7XGtVT
Oh, in response to Judy..Can you imagine the horror of being forced to poison your own child with chemo, like the family in the documentary, “Cut, Poison, Burn. Everyone has their own, obviously strong opinion, on what they would or wouldn’t do if faced with cancer..But, if that person is a minor, YOU DON’T HAVE A CHOICE! Watch, “First Do No Harm” with Meryl Streep. This is an old movie, but a TRUE story! If not for a few people who were willing to put their neck out, that child would not have made it! Now, THAT is NOT OKAY! THE PARENTS should make the decision! You don’t have to be around very long to see that EVERYONE makes mistakes and medicine is no exception! Ultimately, that child belongs to the parents, not the STATE or Federal Govt! ( I know there are some BAD parents, but you can’t take away everyone’s rights in order to stop the bad ones!) That is insane! Thank you Sarah, for being a voice of reason. We need MORE! (:
Yes Sarah, it is disconcerting to see how judgmental some of the comments are…sorta reminds me of something I heard about atheism..”There are no real atheists; just because one person’s total knowledge does NOT include God, that in NO WAY can refute another person’s KNOWLEDGE of God!” I had to think a long time on that.. seems like the same thing here..some seem to think if it isn’t in their knowledge/understanding, then it isn’t true. That reminds me of another great statement…”Your failure to be informed, does not make me a whacko!” Wish I could remember who said it! We live in an ignorant culture, no disrespect intended. It is ongoing in our society to keep us from knowing the TRUTH. If you don’t believe that, TEST IT! Thanks Sarah, keep em thinking!!!!! BTW, another great book, “Cancer, Step outside the Box.” Ty Bollinger. Excellent information for anyone trying to figure out what is out there about cancer. (:
According to the info online the quote is by John Loeffler. I had never heard it. Thanks!
Thanks so much for posting this, Sarah! Being new to the “traditional” ways of doing things, I have been wondering what your opinion of this would be. As a health care worker, I’ve seen countless people suffer through ‘treatment’, always thinking “there has to be a better way”.
I would avoid chemo if at all possible. And if I felt there was no way around it, I would only take half of the recommended dose. For example, if the drs recommeded 6 treatments, I would agree to 3. And it would definitely depend on what kind of cancer I have.
I do not think this post was offensive in any way. We all learn from each other’s experiences, good and bad. What Steve Jobs chose to do or not do as it relates to treatment is not the point. The question is what are YOU going to do? If you’re not in that situation, it’s hard to tell, but you think about these things in advance for same reason you have wills, life insurance policies, fire escape plans, and 401(K)s.
Thank you, Sarah!
The web url for this doctor is http://www.curenaturalicancro.com
Another great web site is http://www.topicalinfo.org At this web site is discussed ways to heal skin cancer but this is a great web site for understanding how cancer works in any kind of cancer, skin or not. This guy is not a doctor but he explains it so well and with such great understanding that now I can understand cancer better and understand why some natural treatments may work for some people and not others. Please anyone who is interested in alternative cancer treatments should see these two web sites and start with these protocols before trying the (in my opinion) deadly chemo/radiation/surgery. I am slowly curing my skin cancer using these protocols and it is working! These ideas can be applied to other cancers as well.
In answer to the above question, I would never ever submit to any chemo/radiation or surgery for cancer. I have seen what it has done to my loved ones all around me and all of them are DEAD! My mother not only died but she died a horrendous painful and torturous death from all three: chemo, radiation, surgery(CRS). CRS doesn’t work and will never work because they destroy the immune system which is what your body needs in the first place to fight the cancer. Ty Bollinger (google his name) said that he had a friend who was a doctor who did autopsies on thousands of so-called cancer victims. In not one did he find where they died of the cancer. They all died from the treatment of cancer – chemo and/or radiation. Remember that radiation treatment is not much different then going inside Fukushima for 10 minutes. It is the same kind of radiation. And it is given at lethal doses. Chemo is a mustard gas, the same used in NAZI gas chambers. Is it any wonder that people die horrible deaths from this nonsense. Please people don’t remain ignorant, it could cost you your life. Do the research and get educated.
Thank you Natalee, for sharing what you know.. Only the truth will set us free.
It saddens me that in the name of “health” that there is so much misinformation regarding chemotherapy and radiation therapy. This group seems exceptionally uninformed. There is a trend to go against modern medicine in favor of “natural” treatments. How sad. Cancer has been proven 100% to kill people. Pancreatic cancer is an especially lethal form of cancer. Mr. Jobs had a very, very low chance of survival despite using any natural, homeopathic or chemotherapy/radiation therapy. It is a cancer that kills.
Oncology is one of the more facinating medical sciences because of the continual learning based on research and trials (approved by the FDA). Data is (and has been) continually collected to design better trials and outcomes to help cure cancers and prolong a quality life. Unless you work in medicine I cannot even describe the amount of research and therapeutic trials in a way that a layperson could comprehend.
Each cancer is completely unique and individual. You cannot make a judgement of whether or not to receive chemo/radiation based on anybody else’s experience other than your own. Because something worked for Uncle Bob, but didn’t on Grandma Jo should have NO impact on your own choice. Treatment protocols are designed to stop the progression of disease. Regardless of the tumor type–breast cancer, lung cancer, etc., each individuals chemical makeup is different. Depending on the tumor itself and the chemical makeup, and the way your own body fuels it, sometimes there is eradication, sometimes the disease process is stopped, and sometimes it is only slowed. Everyone’s physiology is unique as to how it will respond.
Physicians are not forcing chemotherapy. They can and do offer success rates based on years and years of data but they cannot predict with exact science what will work. Every patient has the right to make their own choice based on their own personal needs and feelings. When the disease has progressed to the point that no therapeutic protocol can improve the quality of life the decision is made again to continue or quit receiving therapy. It is a personal decision.
Regarding holistic approaches to cancer each person has to weigh the same risks and benefits, but holistic methods do not have years and years of data to back them up. Some will cause more dammage than the tumor, and others are simply ineffective. If you are diagnosed with a lethal form of breast cancer, one that is invasive and progressive with metastases, taking shark cartilage, for example, will not cure this cancer. You will die, and probably sooner than you would if the tumor growth is stalled by a chemotherapeutic agent, but that is your choice to make.
Everyone needs to make their own choice and do research. And in this case, the internet is NOT the best source for accurate information. Quite the opposite.
Would I use chemo or radiation. Most likely. I can personally weigh the risks and benefits and make and informed decision. Regarding my children, I would not withhold any treatment that is recommended because of my own theories (I am not a physician). I would proceed with any treatment the physicians recommended for my children.
You know what I like most about this post? All the comments both pro and con .. it can serve as a kind of sounding board for those who are trying to figure out what to do and what treatments to seek if confronted with such a life changing diagnosis as cancer.
That is a good attitude, Sarah. Thank you for starting the discussion.
Cancer is mostly a disease of the modern world with its numerous environmental toxins, nutrient deficiencies, stress, sugar consumption, and conditions caused by all the former (such as inflammation) that lead to development of cancer.
It seems ridiculous to cover up the symptoms of cancer with toxic treatments when in reality their caused by toxins to begin with. I would definitely try the Gerson therapy. Chemo only aims to get rid of the tumor not treat the root cause of the cancer. And in many cases it ends up coming back after using chemo.
Its awful how parents are forced by Big Pharma and medical establishment to subject their kids to chemo. Truly a violation of health freedom.
Thanks for this post, Sarah. From the emotional responses you’ve obviously hit a nerve. Takes a lot of guts to put yourself out there and I applaud you. What I sense from some of the comments is that the idea of cancer automatically brings up a reaction of FEAR. The medical community and even natural health community exploits that fear in us – especially when it involves our children – and push us into making decisions that do not have good scientific reasoning. When faced with a life-threatening health crisis, it is absolutely vital that we stay calm and centered. My assumption is: mother nature is kind. The universe wants us to be well. What do our bodies need to get well?