Positive Health Online

"Have you seen the Breast Cancer Treatment section in this Sunday's The Observer?", my partner asked. As he handed me the 32-page supplement on 29 September, I was hoping to see a holistic approach to breast cancer treatment. However, upon turning to page 2, with full-page advert from pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology, along with statement that the Guide was produced in partnership with Dr Foster, my heart plummeted, knowing that what we had was the 'medical' version of breast cancer treatment – surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, devoid of any mention or notion of nutrition, herbal medicine, massage, reflexology, aromatherapy, acupuncture or any other complementary treatments which may be helpful in either treating the cancer, or at the very least alleviating some of the very nasty symptoms and side effects inflicted by conventional medical treatments.

Once again, as in the 1945 Two Solitudes Hugh MacLennan classic, this 'Guide' was the perfect embodiment of how healthcare is not integrated, with the personal story, the media aspect of breast cancer, the latest genetic research, the bright future prospects, profiles of the female GP, the Radiologist, the Oncological Surgeon, the Oncoplastic Surgeon, the Medical Oncologist and the Nurse, peppered between pages and pages of 'league table' lists and statistics of hospitals throughout the country and their breast cancer services and performances.

How extraordinary! The Observer carried, only two weeks previously, a two-page article by Dr Carmen Wheatley, key figure behind the 8+-year survival from terminal leukaemia, of Oxford don Michael Gearin-Tosh. He used a modified Gerson Therapy regimen, together with visualization, supplements, breathing exercises and acupuncture.

The longer I research the history of cancer, the more I realize that the dirty fight between radical innovators who developed nutritional or other formulae for cancer has been going on for the entire 20th century and beyond. This battle has sadly had many casualties, most of them distinguished scientific and medical geniuses who were 'rewarded' for their hard work and compassion with varying degrees of professional exile, imprisonment and/or penury. We are speaking of the likes of Emanuel Revici MD, Max Gerson MD, Stanislaw Burzynski MD PhD, Virginia Livingston-Wheeler MD, Lawrence Burton PhD, Harold Manner PhD, Ernesto Contreras MD, Dr Hoefer-Janker, Hens Nieper MD, Joseph Issels MD, Ernst Krebs Sr MD, John Beard, Harry Hoxey and Rene Caisse.

The Medical Establishment is as described in Dorothy Rowe's Beyond Fear (see page 55), self-interested and self-protective "…the people who hold the wealth, prestige and power in the system do not want to relinquish what they hold, and are prepared to sacrifice those who have no power, prestige or money in order to keep what they hold."

The world's holistically oriented healthcare communities are engaged in a vicious struggle with the pharmaceutical companies and the Medical Establishment, who have continually heaped scorn and criticism upon the many advances made with non-medical, non-drug therapies. Latterly, the conflict has been ratcheted up, with CODEX and the EU Herbal and Nutritional Supplement Directives. The stakes are high; imagine the situation if we are not successful in securing our right to legally obtain herbal and nutritional supplements rather than harmful drugs which may induce serious, if not life-threatening side effects.

It is not as if the Medical Profession usually gets it right. The present debacle about cholesterol and low-fat diets, which have spawned an international epidemic of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and hypertension (see our Cover Story) shows that listening to the 'expert' doctor will not necessarily get you better. In fact, listening to your doctor prescribe a high carbohydrate diet may lead to insulin resistance and high triglyceride levels, necessitating insulin for your newly-developed diabetes, and beta blockers to bring down your cholesterol levels. This is nightmare scenario stuff for those of us wishing to lead the good (meaning natural) lifestyle, eat clean, uncontaminated food and drink unpolluted water. Is that too much to ask?

To paraphrase the old saying 'Trust in Allah and tether your camel', I say "Don't necessarily trust your Doctor; do your own research as well".

This is Dr Angela Jones' last Homeopathic Case Studies column. I wish to take this opportunity to thank her on behalf of all Positive Health readers for her many years of inspiring reading.