The Big C

The big C – Cancer. The word strikes fear in the bravest of us all, and rightly so. The American Cancer Society reveals the current, chilling statistics: one out of every two men and one out of every three women will battle cancer at some point in their lives. And too often, they will lose. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States.

The National Cancer Institute’s statistics report a 66%, five-year survival rate. Longitudinal studies reveal a 58-59% twenty-year survival rate. Conventional medicine claims today’s statistics prove current treatments are effective at curing cancer or at the very least extending life. Not everyone agrees with these claims.

Cancer is a slow moving disease; early detection is increasing. The earlier cancer is detected, the greater the odds of living for five years, with or without effective treatment. Critics, such as Mike Anderson, (from the documentary, Healing Cancer from the Inside Out) contend the increase in numbers of cancer patients living for five years is caused by the increase in early detection rather than the efficacy of current conventional treatment. In addition, he contends the methodology of reporting numbers is highly suspect—that the cancer industry massages numbers to support claims of effective treatment.

The National Cancer Institute’s data graphs show significant improvement in the survival rate for lymphoma and melanoma. When these numbers are combined with the statistics for all types of cancers, the overall cancer survival rates dramatically improve. But when the other cancers are looked at individually, their survival rate from 1975 through today shows negligible improvement on a graph.

Cancer begins with a single damaged cell—a cell that refuses to follow a normal life cycle of growth, division, and death. The cancer cell mutates and refuses to die; instead dividing to form a mass we call a tumor, or, in the case of leukemias, disrupting normal processes in the bone marrow and blood.

As cancer grows, tumors impede normal function of organs and body systems. The bloodstream and the lymphatic system become the means for cancer cells to invade other parts of the body.

Conventional treatment zeros in on the tumor or tumors, primarily using surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation to kill the cancer cells. Treatment is aggressive and invasive. Chemotherapy and radiation destroy healthy tissue as well as cancerous tissue. Chemotherapy also suppresses the patient’s immune system, raising the risk of death by other causes such as pneumonia.

Nutritionally based alternative treatments such as the Gerson and Budwig diets view the tumor as a symptom of disease, not the cause. Treatment is focused on building health, strengthening the immune system and the liver, raising oxygen in the cells, detoxifying the body, and eliminating the wastes created as the body wages war against the cancer.

Whichever protocol you choose to follow, select a proven path and fully consider your ability to comply. If you’re a person who “can’t follow a diet to save my life,” conventional treatment may be a better fit for you. If you choose the alternative route, be sure to surround yourself with a safe and protective support system. Naysayers, both professionals and laymen, are vicious. They will leave no stone unturned in their efforts to undermine your decision, your confidence, and your resolve. They will truly believe you to be a fool in need of their advice and they will make every effort to bring you over to their way of thinking. Strangely enough, their concern for you, heartfelt as it may be, may vanish when alternative treatment is successful. Don’t be too surprised when they don’t show the least interest in your success.
You choose the way you live. You choose your quality of life. Choose well.

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Allene Edwards

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