Thursday 31 January 2008

Urban Legends That Should Die

Below is an email I received recently from a relative. I'm sure she meant well, but she is misinformed. I check a lot of emails on snopes.com now because so much misinformation is spread through the cyber universe. I checked this one out too. My first clue was the name of the hospital. It's Johns Hopkins. Some of it might be just good sense, like having a good diet. But a lot of it is plain malarkey. And it could be dangerous too.

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (TRY

BEING THE KEY WORD) AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHN HOPKINS IS FINALLY

STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .

Cancer Update from John Hopkins
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not
show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few
billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer
cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are
unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the
detectable size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's
lifetime
3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be
destroyed and prevented
from multiplying and forming tumors.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple
nutritional deficiencies. These
could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and
including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and
also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow,
gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver,
kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages
healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce
tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not
result in more tumor destruction.
9 When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and
radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence
the person can succumb to various kinds of i nfections and
complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and
become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer
cells to spread to other sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by
not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one
important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like
NutraSweet, Equal,Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is
harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses
but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make
it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.
b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and
substituting with unsweetened soya milk cancer cells are being starved.
c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is
acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef
or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and
parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains,seeds,
nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline
environment.About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh
vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach
down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth
of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try
and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean
sprouts)and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a d ay. Enzymes are
destroyed at
temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea
is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best
to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy
metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive
enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrified
and leads to more toxic buildup.
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from
or eat ing less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls
of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer
cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6,
Flor-ssence,Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to
enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other
supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed
cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted,
or unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and
positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger,
unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic
environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax
and enjoy life.
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising
daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular
level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.


1. No plastic containers in micro.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This
information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as
well.
Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer.
Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies.
Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases
dioxins from the plastic.
Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle
Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked
about dioxi ns and how bad they are for us.. He said that we should not
be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers.
This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the
combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the
food and ultimately into the cells of the body. In stead, he recommends
using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for
heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such
things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed
from the container and heated in something else.
Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer
to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while
ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam contain
ers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.
Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as
dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the mi crowave. As the
food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt
out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper
towel instead.



Please, all of you, take the time to research these emails before sending them on. "Dr. Edward Fujimoto" isn't even a medical doctor!

Let's fight against the urban legends.





13 comments:

Expat mum said...

I have to tell you though that the John Hopkins hospital exists, as does the University and both are highly respected in the States. There is a bit of a debate going on at the moment about heating things up in plastic, but it's more or less been conceded that they don't really know enough.
As for the rest of the e-mail, I'm sure a healthier diet would benefit most people in many ways, but having several friends going through cancer treatments at the moment, it's really trial and error with each one. An article in the Economist a few months back said that researchers have now discovered that two people can have exactly the same cancer and they will not react to treatment in the same way. We have along way to go before knowing all the answers unfortunately.

Annie said...

I didn't read it all - just wanted to comment on these types of email in general - I dump them all - I hate getting these 'forwards' in my inbox.

If I need information - I'll research it or find it from a reliable news source.

So many people knee jerk to some of the scaremonger type emails that float around, it's nonsense half the time!

Vi said...

Geez, if we believed half of what we read, we would live off fresh air! (And die of starvation instead).

I too use snopes, but normally just delete any forwards.

laurie said...

that makes me sad--people are so afraid of cancer.

it IS true that you shouldn't heat stuff in the microwave in plastic, though.

Kanga Jen said...

Re: safety of plastics in microwave: I think it depends what plastic you're talking about. There are microwave-safe plastics out there. The ones that are safe are labeled as such (e.g., not margarine tubs,or one-time use plastic containers).

I'm never sure what to do about those forwarded hoax emails. For a while, I'd send the person who forwarded it to me a link to snopes debunking it. That usually makes them feel pretty bad (which is not my intent) but doesn't mean they stop forwarding them in the future (which IS my intent). So I've quit trying to educate and just delete now.

Flowerpot said...

I know John Hopkins, and I had heard about plastic bottles and reheating stuff in cling film. Healthy diet? well that s common sense. As for the rest of the diet - what are you supposed to eat? Fresh air?

the rotten correspondent said...

Our society feeds off of fear. And these emails spread that fear.

Why should we be afraid all the time?

Sandrine said...

Hi,

Bisphenol A is the chemical in the plastic containers.I looked it up few months back because I was having problems with my Monarch butterflies when they were hatching in a plastic container.Turned out it might have been something else but here are the links:
http://www.bisphenol-a.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A
Take care.

Sandrine

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

expatmum: I know Johns Hopkins exists as a hospital and a university. I know that ignorant people often refer to it as John Hopkins. We are all individuals and it makes sense that we would each have different reactions to cancer treatments. To spread a message that cancer can be treated solely through diet, supplements (which often do not undergo the rigorous testing that prescription drugs do), and attitude (and that one pisses me off the most) is irresponsible at the very least. And to attribute it to a respected hospital and university is libelous, in my view.

annie: That's a very good attitude.

vi: I normally delete forwards too, but this one set me off.

laurie: Yes, people are afraid, and some use that fear to unscrupulous ends.

PM: I've also tried to tell others about snopes, but it just upset them. But they still should know about it, I think.

flowerpot: This email was cococted by a so-called holistic healer as a way of selling supplements, I think.

RC: We're afraid because sometimes we have no firm answers to our questions about diseases.

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

Hi Sandrine, I'll have a look.

marymaryquitecontrary said...

I will be deleting this if it arrives in my mail box. This sort of scaremongering is just as bad as the 'would you like a larger p.... ones I get. I am a woman why do I even receive these?

wakeupandsmellthecoffee said...

marymary: do you have some sort of spam alert available from your server? If so, you can put it on and no longer receive those p emails.

Expat mum said...

I have to agree though - the "attitude" opinion is really awful and demeaning to everyone fighting cancer - or any other potentially fatal condition.