Tumour - kill or cure?

[paigetheoracle]

Reading an article in Nexus Magazine by Walter Last, I was struck how close to my ideas his are. I remember somebody on this site correcting my statement that the Chinese don't die from cancer (Personal conversation with my wife by a visiting Chinese doctor), saying that they do now. Well maybe this article answers that by pointing out that adopted Western practices are killing as many patients there as here.

 

His argument is that surgery spreads cancer and that chemotherapy and radiation do no good whatsoever (go to his site for facts and figures as well as references: see below at end of thread). His analogy is that tumours are prisons, which collect and restrict the spread of the cancer, which is the body's natural response to this condition, much as white blood cells attack invading foreign bodies. I've always maintained, from my own experience with migraines, that illness is the body's way of fighting sickness and not a problem to be attacked as an enemy (It's an ally at work, not an opponent, out to bring you down). Patients think that the operation has helped because of the temporary relief brought by the removal of the tumour. Likewise stopping chemo feels good because the effects of the treatment itself makes the patient feel ill.

 

Anybody who wants to argue about this I suggest reads his website material or the Nexus article - there's no point arguing with me about it as I'm not the expert in this case (Bring your points to this thread, to argue with others equally qualified or interested - sadly that doesn't include me at the moment, for personal reasons: Mourning death of a beloved pet).

 

http://www.health-science-spirit.com

[maikeru]

Reading an article in Nexus Magazine by Walter Last, I was struck how close to my ideas his are. I remember somebody on this site correcting my statement that the Chinese don't die from cancer (Personal conversation with my wife by a visiting Chinese doctor), saying that they do now. Well maybe this article answers that by pointing out that adopted Western practices are killing as many patients there as here.

 

Chinese have always died from cancer, even in ancient times. What's changing now is the rates and occurrence of certain cancers. Previously low rates of many kinds of cancer are shooting through the roof. This problem in China is not new. Similar patterns have been seen in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, etc. and Asian immigrants and 2nd- and 3rd-generation Asians who live in America and other Western countries. The main thing is that previously low rates of cancers or associated diseases in Asian populations are rising dramatically as they adopt Western lifestyles, foods (change in diet toward fast food, heavy red meat consumption, maybe dairy, etc.), and increasing industrialization and urbanization which have increased the amount and kinds of pollution.

 

His argument is that surgery spreads cancer and that chemotherapy and radiation do no good whatsoever (go to his site for facts and figures as well as references: see below at end of thread). His analogy is that tumours are prisons, which collect and restrict the spread of the cancer, which is the body's natural response to this condition, much as white blood cells attack invading foreign bodies. I've always maintained, from my own experience with migraines, that illness is the body's way of fighting sickness and not a problem to be attacked as an enemy (It's an ally at work, not an opponent, out to bring you down). Patients think that the operation has helped because of the temporary relief brought by the removal of the tumour. Likewise stopping chemo feels good because the effects of the treatment itself makes the patient feel ill.

 

Yes and no. Sometimes chemo and radiation work because they kill the cancer completely without killing the patient as much. IMO, it's better to think of it as a race for time between killing the cancer and the patient. If the treatments work, they'll kill the cancer before they kill the patient and the patient can recuperate. (But see, the horrible thing is you *are* killing the patient, which is the opposite of what treatment should be doing.) But tumors and their vascularization and growth is a complicated thing. I won't really go into it unless you want me to. I spent several years studying this and my last project in the lab I worked at dealt with tumor-associated macrophages, tumor cells, etc.

 

Anybody who wants to argue about this I suggest reads his website material or the Nexus article - there's no point arguing with me about it as I'm not the expert in this case (Bring your points to this thread, to argue with others equally qualified or interested - sadly that doesn't include me at the moment, for personal reasons: Mourning death of a beloved pet).

 

http://www.health-science-spirit.com

 

Sorry to hear about your pet. :(