Faith-based medicine, one of my favorite targets, is raising its ugly head again, this time with the help of a celebrity, Don Imus, who is using quack medicine as an attempted remedy for his cancer. (Thanks to Troy Patterson's blog for bringing this to my attention.)
Sadly, Imus has what sounds like a very aggressive form of prostate cancer, which will almost certainly prove fatal without, or even with, treatment. I can hardly blame a man facing such a dark future for wanting to try anything. And I can't find fault with people who want to try such things in addition to treatments that might work. But when they abandon the only medicine that might work, it's a death sentence, and the person who convinced them is, in my opinion, a quack who should be jailed.
One of these quacks is trying to capitalize on Imus' misfortune. (I won't name him or link to his web site, you can follow Troy's link if you really want to see his drivel.) Imus has been convinced that a concoction of haberneros peppers and garlic will cure his cancer in just two weeks.
Once again, I'm struck by the parallels between religious faith and medical faith. Both require you to accept unprovable, unproven, and illogical "facts." And worse, in order to accept these illogical beliefs, you have to reject logical, rational thinking, the very science that has done so much to make our lives long and healthy. By learning as a child to put faith and authority before curiosity and investigation, religion makes adults who are unable to distinguish good science from bad, quackery from competence, and cures from useless concoctions.
When Don Imus dies, what will this guy who advocates haberneros peppers have to say?
Thursday, June 11, 2009
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Dear readers -- I am no longer blogging and after leaving these blogs open for two years have finally stopped accepting comments due to spammers. Thanks for your interest. If you'd like to write to me, click on the "Contact" link at the top. Thanks! -- CJ.
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You can hate on alternative methods all you want but when it comes down to it prostate cancer is pretty much a death sentence in the context of traditional medicine.
ReplyDeleteWhat's so wrong about an alternative treatment combined with the power of positive thinking (which can also help cure)?
You should do some homework. An infinite wealth of proven natural Amazonian plant cures are being destroyed daily. And it's so obviously unfounded that the leading pharmaceuticals can't catelog everything fast enough (only so they can patent it for themselves). If you require educated AMA doctrine as proof, what about Dr. Kelley Eidem and his own personal experience? "How I Cured Stage 4 Cancer in Two Weeks For Less Than The Cost Of A Night At The Movies"
ReplyDeleteConsidering he didn't actually have cancer (it certainly wasn't cancer that he describes in his book) it would have been impossible to cure it.
DeleteIt's worth noting that every lab test indicates that Don Imus's health is improving.
ReplyDeleteSince you want to know what I would say if Imus were to die, then a similar question will be posed to you, "What will you say when he is cured?"
If you think his death would be indicative of the value of my recipe, then it would also be indicative of its worth when he is cured. Will you see the light, or will you put your "faith" in what you believe in absent evidence?
As of last week, the indications are that Imus will be cured. He may already be cured for that matter.
The fact is Kelley, you are more than aware that your "cure" doesn't work. It's been proven time and time again that what you're preaching offers little or nothing in the way of any health benefits and in most cases will only delay and confuse the sufferer on which is the best and most effective treatment to have. He won't be cured by your treatment, period.
DeletePeople like you are a cancer themselves on society and the sooner frauds like you are stopped the better.
I also think it's quite ironic that you paraphrase Christian texts when you're as far removed from a Christian as is physically and morally possible.
You are correct that teaching faith in authority can cripple an individual's ability to think critically. However, you are a prime case of this disease of unreason. You unyieldingly accept the opinions of the mainstream medical industry (whose credibility is highly suspect), whilst refusing to look at possible reasons why this other type of treatment might (or might not) actually work.
ReplyDeleteFYI, 50% of Prostate cancer patients who get their prostates surgically removed still die from Prostate cancer. When it comes to colon or lung cancer, the survival rates and treatments have not improved in the past 3o years.
ReplyDeleteIf I were to be diagnosed with any cancer in the future, you can bet your LIFE that I would be taking copious amounts of cayenne pepper capsules and powder along with my chemo treatments. Chemo does NOT work because to kill the cancer they have to nearly kill the patient since cancer is just UN-controlled cell growth. During the time between your chemo treatments when your body is recovering, the cancer is also recovering-THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD BE TAKING CAYENNE PEPPER!
I agree Russell. Surgery, radiation nor cemo doesn't "cure" prostate cancer, not will it prolong a persons life. Anyone who goes through "traditional" "theropy" is very uninformed and is risking their life on what the big pharma dictates, and is a death sentence.
DeleteYou guys are factually wrong. Surgery, chemotherapy and radiation therapy do work, and they work very well. No, they don't always cure prostate cancer, because it often metastasizes before it's detected, and once it spreads, it's almost always incurable. But "incurable" doesn't mean we have to give up. The simple fact is that radiation and chemo DO prolong life. And in most cases, these treatments can and do improve the QUALITY of life by relieving pain ... a lot.
DeleteQuit spreading bull. If the day comes that you're diagnosed with prostate cancer, and you want to suffer through the agony of cancer spreading through your body, eating your bones until they're so weak they break, and consuming your guts, go right ahead.
I held the hand of prostate-cancer victim as he drew his last breath and died. You have no idea how awful it is.
On the other hand, a very close friend of mine was given ten extra years of life by radiation therapy. My own brother and my father were completely cured of prostate cancer by proper medical care ... one by surgery and one by radiation therapy.
If you want to suffer and die because of your ignorance, go ahead. But don't try to push you BS on others.
Russell - 100% of prostate cancer patients who use peppers without also using other treatments will die from their cancer. And your information about radiation and chemo treatments is WAY out of date. My brother is a leading physicist in radiation oncology, and the treatments he and his colleagues developed have a high rate of success, with modest side effects.
ReplyDeleteImus is right, get a clue
ReplyDeleteThe FACT that many men die & have some level of prostate cancer seen in their autopsy (but dont die OF the disease) proves your "100%" statement for what it is. 100% ignorance.
ReplyDeleteWOW!
ReplyDelete"- 100% of prostate cancer patients who use peppers without also using other treatments will die from their cancer. And your information about radiation and chemo treatments is WAY out of date."
Both of those statements are so blatantly unfounded (and untrue) that I'm surprised to still find things like this, in 2010, even on the internet. Good try at perpetuating the medical profession's myths ...
It is irritating to see someone preach against that which you find to be illogical and irrational by writing things, and citing things, that are equally irrational and illogical. Just because you insist something is 100% true doesn't make it such.
ReplyDeleteMainstream medicine over the years has constantly evolved and as it has we look back and think "boy that was sure barbaric - the way we did things before."
When it comes to treating cancer right now the treatment for many forms of cancer is to cut up people, give them toxins and radiate them. And for many types of cancer these "treatments" can kill the patient before the cancer does.
So if there are indications that capsaicin and garlic can have a beneficial impact on people with cancer, then it is only rational and logical for people to enthusiastically embrace these approaches.
There are no indications that capsaicin and garlic have any benefits at all. In fact, the opposite. On the other hand, it's been solidly proved that radiation therapy, chemotherapy and surgery save lives.
Delete