Monday, October 15, 2007

Cancer: Will There Ever Be a Cure?

Cancer: Will There Ever Be a Cure?
It is no wonder there are so few (if any) "natural cures"
for devastating diseases. If I were a conspiracy theorist,
I would say it's because the medical industry doesn't want
to find "natural cures." If a natural cure were found for
cancer, for example, oncologists and the whole traditional
"cancer fighting" network would be looking for another
specialty. Or another line of work.

The pharmaceutical industry doesn't want to find a natural
cure for cancer because there is no profit in a cure. Big
Pharma makes its money selling products that at best only
manage symptoms that are not life threatening but on going.
Anyone with high blood pressure is a financial bonanza for
the drug companies. Those unfortunate individuals will take
profitable "management medication" until they die. Got it?
Management pays. Cures do not.

However, I am not a conspiracy theorist. But I am a
thinker. And I think this: There is a lot of stupidity and
far too many "experts" who have been educated beyond their
intelligence who are in charge of how and what research
gets done, and what the public is told and led to believe
as unimpeachable.

This is what I am getting at: A recent press release,
"Study doubts antioxidant benefits for heart risk women"
told about a study that concluded that women at high risk
for heart disease are unlikely to see any benefit from
taking antioxidants C,E, or beta carotene.

The study was conducted at prestigious Brigham and Women's
Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. Right there
you know the findings of this study are to be taken as the
Word of God. And that's exactly the effect it has when an
uninformed, wary populace learns about the study conclusion.

And what is the study conclusion?

"There was no overall effect of ascorbic acid, (vitamin C)
vitamin E or beta carotene on the primary combined end
point or on the individual secondary outcomes of myocardial
infarction, stroke, coronary revascularization or
cardiovascular disease death," wrote the researchers.

That's a mouthful. They could just as well said that the
supplements were useless, but that would not have sounded
scientific enough.

Here's what really happened: Women with a history of heart
disease and a whole host of other health issues were chosen
for the study. They were not "at risk" for heart disease -
they had heart disease. In other words, they were very sick
puppies.

Here's why the study didn't produce positive results: The
women were randomly assigned to take 500 mg of vitamin C or
a placebo every day, 600 units of vitamin E or placebo and
50 mg of beta carotene or placebo every day.

Anyone with even a smattering of knowledge about what
supplements can or cannot do would know that the doses
given could not produce a cure or even a major benefit for
anyone with severe heart problems. The doses given in the
study are doses that health-aware people take every day,
knowing that prevention is the key to staying healthy.

This type of useless study is nothing new. The medical
industry along with Big Pharma continue to spend time and
our tax money on research that is doomed to fail from the
get go. You can't expect to cure very sick people with
severe health problems with dietary doses of supplements.
It ain't gonna happen - ever. But this kind of worthless
research serves a purpose - it perpetuates the fiction that
supplements are useless, and worse - possibly dangerous.

I recall telling a woman that I take 2,000 units of vitamin
E daily. The woman rolled her eyes and said, "That's
dangerous. My doctor would never go for that." For sure.
Most traditionally trained doctors don't know squat about
supplements, and don't want to know. Those with enough
intellectual honesty and curiosity who ask questions run
the risk of the scorn of their peers, which in the medical
profession is a fate worse than death.

Many people won't take supplements unless they are
recommended by their physician who may have only minimal
training in nutrition. All most traditionally trained
doctors know is what "research shows" - research of the
type done at prestigious universities, hospitals and by the
pharmaceutical industry.

Bottom line: Be a thinker. Understand that supplements in
dietary doses cannot be expected to cure. But when they are
taken in adequate amounts before a disease state begins,
they can be life savers.


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Barbara Morris is a pharmacist and author of Put Old on
Hold. Visit her web site, http://www.PutOldonHold.com and
sign up for her free content-rich newsletter and receive a
complimentary copy of special report, "Thirteen Diva Tested
Tips for Fabulous Skin."

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