What’s behind the deep dark plot to keep miracle cures concealed from the public?The one area of the web that has as many “self help” and “miracle solutions” newsletters (and marketing teasers) as personal finance is health — the investing newsletters promise eternal wealth, and the health newsletters promise eternal life (or something dang close). Readers ask us about the crazy marketing for these health newsletters all the time, so we’ve found someone who can help answer these questions. His name is Michael Jorrin, we’ll call him “Doc Gumshoe” and he’s a longtime medical writer who can help add a little skepticism and reality to the hype we all see every day. Here’s his first article for you, we’ll try to bring him back on a regular basis if and when there’s interest (so feel free to suggest other topics for the Doc in the comments section below). As with our other guest authors, Michael’s opinions and assertions are his own.
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What’s behind the deep dark plot to keep miracle cures concealed from the public?
We’ve all heard it before. And yet, the temptation to take a peek behind the kimono is hard to resist. Might there just be a grain of truth in this latest claim?
Here’s a web video ad from a newsletter called Logical Health Alternatives that comes close to dangling the promise of eternal life:
It starts with the headline “Poof! 20 million cancer cells gone!” And it goes on from there. The premise is that there is a natural cancer treatment that miraculously exterminates cancer cells by the millions – even billions – with no ill-effects to the patient. And, of course, the implication is that Big Pharma is doing its evil utmost to keep us from finding out about it, because if we knew about the wondrous effects of this natural cure, no one would spend a dime on Big Pharma’s ineffective and dangerous drugs.
The website describes a New York City physician, Dr Fred Pescatore, in glowing terms. Here’s what the spokesperson says:
“I’ve been working in the health publishing industry for nearly 20 years. And yet, never before have I encountered a physician making such breathtaking inroads in natural medicine.
“Exposing the REAL causes behind today’s deadliest threats. And delivering cures so shockingly easy—they boggle the mind! And put ‘modern’ medicine’s high-tech ‘wonder drugs’ to SHAME.
“His name is Fred Pescatore, M.D. Dr. Pescatore is a best-selling author, sought-after medical expert, and trusted physician to hundreds of patients (from around the world) who flock to his high-profile Manhattan clinic.”
The secret remedy that cures cancer and a lot of other diseases is called “Alpha G,” and, according to the website,
“It’s virtually unheard of here in the land of “cut, poison, and burn” cancer care.”
Behind the premise that Big Pharma is threatened by “natural” treatments is an assumption, shared by many, that there is a fundamental distinction between “natural” treatments and pharmaceutical drugs. Let me say, right off the bat, that whatever distinction there is, it’s exceedingly blurry. Many – maybe even most – drugs have origins in natural remedies. Take aspirin.
Aspirin: a Drug Originating in Tree Bark
Aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) traces back its source to infusions made from the bark of the willow tree (Salix), which was used to treat aches and pains from the times of Hippocrates, in the fourth century BC. Willow bark was not without its ill effects, however, and practitioners looked around for substitutes that might work as well without the problems, including the bark and leaves of those pretty Spirea bushes. And in the 19th century, chemists found ways to compound the “natural” salicylic acid with other molecules to mitigate the harmful effects, and by the end of the 19th century they arrived at aspirin as we know it today. But it took a lot of tinkering.
Aspirin, some might say, is a miracle drug. It alleviates pain. It brings down fever. It reduces inflammation. And, perhaps most usefully, it inhibits the clumping together of blood platelets, even in very small doses. Because clots formed by blood platelets in small blood vessels in the brain are the cause of strokes, aspirin is a very effective guard against strokes.
But it’s not without its harmful effects. The same mechanism that inhibits platelet clumping can slow blood clotting in other parts of the body. Long-term, high dose aspirin is thought to be an important cause of bleeding in the intestinal tract. In that sense, aspirin is like every other drug. No drug (and no extract from tree bark or any other “natural” substance) is entirely without harmful effects. As the saying goes, “the poison is in the dose.” Too much of anything can be harmful, even deadly.
More Tree Bark Drugs
But let’s go back to drugs that have their origin in natural substances. Quinine was derived from the bark of the chinchona tree, and is effective as a treatment for malaria. Quite a lot of other drugs, such as the quinolones (which include such vital antibiotics as ciprofloxacin and the other floxacins) are molecules with structures similar to the quinine molecule.
One of the recent discoveries along that line was that a compound from the bark of the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolin), called “taxol,” is effective in combating cancer. Cancer cells, like all cells, reproduce by mitosis, or splitting. The process by which they do so is complex, but it involves dividing some of the cancer cell’s crucial components, such as chromosomes and microtubules. A number of drugs can significantly inhibit the process. Taxol-based agents using this mechanism include paclitaxel (Taxol, Bristol Myers Squibb); docetaxel (Taxotere, Sanofi-Aventis), Abraxane (a newer formulation of paclitaxel from Celgene) and others. These agents are now synthesized and no longer require collecting huge amounts of yew bark, which is fortunate, since it was estimated that a single clinical trial might require harvesting hundreds of thousands of these trees.
So, Big Pharma, as well as Little Pharma and Tiny Pharma, are keenly aware of any clues that a “natural” substance might have disease-fighting capabilities. Their eyes are peeled and their noses are to the ground, because from those “natural” remedies might come pharmaceuticals from which they would make billions.
Here’s what the website says about “Alpha G.” I won’t paraphrase it, I’ll quote it directly. Here it is:
“Renowned medical experts spanning the globe have come to a shocking consensus… Alzheimer’s…diabetes…heart disease…impotence…and much more
are all symptoms of…“The HIDDEN EPIDEMIC of the Baby Boomer Generation
“Researchers call it ‘the single most common thread to premature death’
Are you getting our free Daily Update
"reveal" emails? If not,
just click here...“And, astonishingly…no one’s talking about it
“But now you can turn the tide against this stealth killer— with a solution so STUNNINGLY SIMPLE it puts modern medicine to shame!
“High blood pressure…Elevated cholesterol…Problem blood sugar…Bone loss…Sexual dysfunction.
“I’ll bet you know someone taking prescriptions for all these conditions. Maybe you face the avalanche of pill bottles every time you open your own medicine cabinet.
“But let me fill you in on a secret Big Pharma is desperate to keep tightly under wraps…
“Every single one of these sinister syndromes can be tied back to ONE HIDDEN CAUSE.
“In fact, as you’re about to discover inside this exclusive expose…
“There’s almost NO disease or health worry that isn’t directly related to this SECRET HEALTH MINEFIELD
“And in just a moment I’ll tell you how you can get the inside scoop on the jaw-droppingly EASY cure to this hidden cause.
That’s right—CURE”
About Alpha G
Okay, so what exactly is Alpha G? It appears to be alpha lipoic acid. This nutritional supplement is widely marketed. However, if you check the on-line sources for Alpha G or alpha lipoic acid, you will not find the kind of claims quoted above – nothing about curing any of the diseases mentioned on the video presentation. Why not?
Because if the marketers of those vitamins and supplements made any health claims, they would run afoul of the FDA. The FDA keeps a sharp eye on health claims of any kind, and especially on claims that a supplement or “nutraceutical” can cure or alleviate a disease. Claims of that kind have to be substantiated by evidence, and for lots and lots of supplements, that requirement is highly inconvenient, because there just isn’t any evidence. So the manufacturers and marketers of these supplements stay away from that dangerous ground. Which means that the claims have to be made by somebody else.
Is it really the case that establishment medicine doesn’t know anything about Alpha G, or is keeping it under wraps lest the availability of this miracle product utterly destroy the health-care establishment as we know it? Hardly. As it happens, if you go to PubMed, which is the website of the National Center for Biotechnology Information, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and do a quick search for published studies on alpha lipoic acid, you will turn up 3,532 citations. Most of them, as far as I could tell, were studies in animals (mice, rats, guinea pigs, ferrets) or laboratory studies (in vitro, as they are called). No randomized controlled clinical trials in human beings have yet been published to confirm that alpha lipoic acid actually has any health benefits, or, perhaps more important at this stage, to determine whether alpha lipoic acid has any harmful effects, and if so, at what dose.
However, if we search the NIH website that lists clinical trials, whether completed, ongoing, recruiting, or terminated, we find 70 for alpha lipoic acid. Most of them are in combination with other drugs, and a few are federally-funded (one by the National Institute of Aging). The diseases in which alpha lipoic acid is being investigated include heart and vascular disease, diabetes, HIV, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s disease.
Alpha lipoic acid is an antioxidant, synthesized in our bodies, although in relatively small quantities. Like many organic molecules, it exists in two forms – the so-called right and left enantiomers. What does this mean? Complex organic molecules consist of several sub-units linked together. Molecules that are mirror images of each other can have the identical chemical composition, but function differently because of their shape. Think of the way a key fits into a lock – the exact mirror image of the key wouldn’t work at all, even though the profiles of the keys were identical. It’s the same thing with molecules. They work by fitting precisely into receptors, and if the right enantiomer is the one that fits, the left enantiomer is basically useless. For alpha lipoic acid, it’s the right enantiomer that has the antioxidant characteristics, but most manufactured alpha lipoic acid supplements are half and half right and left. It’s very difficult to separate the two forms, and nobody is quite sure what the left enantiomer does.
What we can be entirely sure of is that the health-care establishment and the pharmaceutical companies are watching alpha lipoic acid carefully. They are not bent on keeping it a secret or concealing its benefits, whatever those might turn out to be, from the public.
The Other Two Miracle Drugs
So, what are Dr Fred’s other two miracle cures? He calls the second one his “Secret Super Charger,” (SSC) and here’s what that presentation says about it:
“SSC is a secret ingredient–a delicious natural, ultra-healthy, relatively inexpensive plant extract with near-magical health-promoting powers. The plant is native to Australia, and ‘freakish’ is truly the word for it…
“It goes to work melting that stubborn belly bulge and balancing see-sawing blood sugar in a matter of DAYS.
“How does it work? Well, SSC blows away any other superfood you may have sampled in its enormous proportion of monounsaturates. These are the ‘good fats’ that help make olive oil so sensational, and SSC is nature’s richest source of them bar none…”
According to the presentation, the result is a cure for diabetes …
“A cure so powerful, yet so simple, ditching diabetes for good is almost EFFORTLESS!
“Forget about the needles, the ‘sawdust and grass clipping’ diet, and the potentially lethal blood sugar drugs. The supposed ‘global health authorities’ are beating a dead horse with these useless tactics.
“Because Dr. Fred’s breakthrough is all about using your body’s most powerful cravings to help you defeat diabetes once and for all.
“That’s right.
“Golden fried chicken…gooey chocolate brownies…and other ‘off limits’ decadent treats can actually HELP cleanse your body of diabetes”
What the plant extract is, the presentation doesn’t say. The reference to olive oil and mono-unsaturated fats is no doubt intended to add a morsel of legitimacy to the claim. But there isn’t any evidence that mono-unsaturated fats “cure” diabetes. Olive oil, and its presence in the Mediterranean diet, gets a lot of credit for improving cardiovascular health, and there is certainly a link between cardiovascular health and diabetes. But nobody has demonstrated, or even claimed, that olive oil cures diabetes or mitigates the symptoms.
And the third miraculous natural cure is tree bark. Here’s just some of what the presentation says:
“The tree bark CUREALL for sunburn, stroke…
“And everything in between!
“This is Dr. Fred’s No.1 recommendation for every patient he sees. No matter what ails them.
“Even deadly serious conditions like Alzheimer’s and hypertension are no match for this natural remedy. And you’d never guess the source…
“This virtual cure-all comes from one of nature’s oldest, simplest materials…
“Tree bark, of all things!
“But before you start chipping away at the old maple in your backyard, hang on just a second!
“We’re not talking about any old tree bark here. No, this one is highly unique. And it grows ONLY in a specific region along the European coast of the Atlantic Ocean.
“There’s almost NOTHING it can’t do
“Nature’s own ALLERGY medicine
“Erase the NO. 2 FEAR of getting older
“VISION LOSS!
“Forget the ‘LITTLE BLUE PILL’
“Hush that incessant RINGING in your ears!
“Armor your brain against ALZHEIMER’S disease
“Shield yourself from SUNBURN–from the inside out
“The safest STROKE prevention on the planet
“And that’s just the beginning of what TBC can do for you!
“Just look at what else this Tree-Bark Cure is capable of…
“Shave days off of wound-healing time–and prevent ugly, disfiguring scars
“Promote a youthful, glowing, wrinkle-free complexion
“Soothes the itching, scaly skin of psoriasis
“Even help kids with ADHD–one study showed that within a month, symptoms were barely noticeable!
“And these are just a few more entries on TBC’s mind-boggling roster of benefits.”
What It Would Take to Get These Miracle Drugs Approved As Drugs
So now we have the complete picture: alpha lipoic acid: a plant extract that’s high in mono-unsaturated fats: and another tree-bark extract.
There is a possibility that, with enough assiduous, painstaking lab work followed by carefully controlled clinical trials, one or more of these “miracle cures” might actually be demonstrated to confer some benefit to human beings. Here’s what would have to happen.
First, the active ingredient – the molecule that has the desired effect – would have to be identified, just the way the chemists in the 19th century determined that the active ingredient in those willow-bark infusions was salicylic acid.
Then there would have to be careful studies to determine a safe and effective dose of this active ingredient. One of the steps is usually to establish the minimum lethal dose. This is done, I am sorry to have to report, by killing laboratory animals. Enough of any drug – of just about anything at all – can be lethal; the question is, how small a quantity can be lethal. Once that has been established, they scale way back from that to determine the maximum safe dose for humans.
But will that maximum safe dose be effective? Now there have to be studies to demonstrate what is known as proof of concept –.i.e., will the active ingredient in this tree bark produce even one of those cures listed above. This might be done in relatively small-scale trials. But so far, we’re not anywhere near close to getting this drug approved by the FDA, or any other regulatory authority that I know of.
In the meantime, they need to do what is known as ADME studies, usually in healthy volunteers. It’s important to know the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of any drug. Based on this information, they can figure out how much to give (and by what route – oral, injectable, intravenous, topical), how often, how long it stays in the system, and other vital information. Even the route of excretion is vital – some drugs are excreted unchanged, and some are metabolized in the liver. The ones that are metabolized in the liver have the potential to interact with other drugs.
Now they have to demonstrate that it really works. This will require big randomized controlled clinical trials. Depending on the specific disease that they’re taking aim at, the trials could be huge, and they could be long-lasting. If it’s preventing sunburn, that’s one thing. They could find out pretty fast if it works. But if it’s preventing strokes, it would be considerably more complex. There are already stroke prevention drugs out there, besides aspirin, that work pretty well. They would at least have to demonstrate that their new drug worked just as well as established drugs (non inferiority).
The best evidence that would likely lead to regulatory approval (and a blockbuster drug!) would be a head-to-head trial that demonstrated that the tree-bark derived drug actually was superior in efficacy, and just as safe, as an established drug. In the case of stroke prevention, a likely trial would enlist persons who had already experienced a TIA (transient ischemic event, sometimes called a mini-stroke) and are therefore at high risk for a full stroke. Because not giving these people an established drug would be unethical, the trial would likely evaluate combination therapy with an established drug plus the new drug compared with the established drug alone.
And the cost of going through the necessary clinical trials to get a new drug approved and bring it to market is huge – it was estimated to average $1.3 billion (with a b!) in 2007, counting the efforts that fizzle.
Given all this, it’s no wonder that the marketers of “nutraceuticals” are not eager to go through the regulatory process. They would rather make their miracle cure claims by some other means, such as the presentation I’ve been quoting. But what you get when you go for a nutraceutical is a lot of big question marks – what’s the right dose, does it really work better than the alternatives, how much is too much, what else am I getting in this little pill?
Speaking for myself, I pass.
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And a word about myself. I have been a medical writer for about 25 years; before that I was a documentary film maker, and some of my films were about medical subjects. I am not a physician, but I have a pretty good scientific background. I wouldn’t dream of recommending any kind of treatment to anyone, and I cannot give medical advice. However, I understand the medical literature and the data and evidence behind it, and I have an inquiring and skeptical turn of mind. In this case it led me to question the hyperbolic claims in the Logical Health Alternatives presentation. In other cases, I scrutinize and question and, sometimes, challenge the positions of some of the established health-care organizations. Eternal vigilance is a small price to pay for health. — Michael Jorrin (aka DocGumshoe)
Unfortunately, doc gumshoe did not read the AHCC info very carefully. It is not alpha lipoic acid, It is Active Hexrose Correlated Compound a medicinal extract of a special mushroom from Japan apparently in wide use in Japanese hospitals. What makes this mushroom extract different is it is taken from the roots rather than from the body of the mushroom. The name Alpha G comes from the fact that this mushroom not only contains the usual Beta-glucan polysaccharides (Beta-G) that most mushrooms have, which is hard for our bodies to digest, it also contains a polysaccharide called Alpha-Glucan (Alpha-G) which our bodies can digest using the readily available enzyme amylase. So please, if you are going to defend big Pharma do it with facts… Also SSC is Macadamia nut oil not olive oil but rather pricey so I stick to olive oil. Finally, the tree bark “cure” is pycnogenol. The latest issue of Life Extension Magazine has a long article on it, with referenced sources, describing its many benefits… Stock gumshoe is great, not so sure about doc gumshoe…
Will you give a complete story on “Hydrogen Peroxide” cures.
I use it twice daily and feel it has more uses than as a mouth wash.
First of all, I really enjoyed reading your article, and is a welcome addition to the Gumshoedom!
Thank you for an informative article, and I would like to make two points:
1. As you pointed out in your article, ” …. and the cost of going through the necessary clinical trials to get a new drug approved and bring it to market is huge – it was estimated to average $1.3 billion (with a b!) in 2007, counting the efforts that fizzle.”
This is precisely the problem with/for the pharmaceutical industry. The high cost of producing a blockbuster drug that can reward the company at the level of initial investment required (in billions of dollars) pushes the pharmaceutical industry research in a very narrow direction – the development of pills that will help maintain a particular condition IF the pill is taken life long. Examples of such pills include cholesterol lowering pills, lowering blood pressure, minimizing the effect of gastritis, eliminating symptoms with prostatitis, etc. If our healthcare dollars are actually spent on primary healthcare, prevention, education, and wellness, we would all be better off. Investment in cheaper, widely available supplements may not provide sufficient motivation for large pharmaceutical companies. So, this is not simply a problem of nutraceutical market making overblown/hyped up claims (that they do), but the current system of viewing human health from a sickness perspective really warps the incentives toward a particular type of pharmaceutical research.
2) Prospective Randomized Double-blind placebo-controlled studies are considered the gold standard for drug trials. While the underlying principle of this approach, in theory, is very good, in practice, this approach significantly falls short. Very often, what you see with a drug trial is the following. The trial is very carefully and deliberately designed to get the drug approved for A indication (I should say, ANY indication). The inclusion/exclusion criteria for the study subject population is very carefully designed to maximize the chances of showing a positive result. The tests are carefully chosen to look for one particular effect. This extreme narrow focus results in a lot of other systemic effects to be not found. What often happens is that once the drug is approved for any one indication and is in the market, it is widely prescribed for a number of ‘other’ related indications by the physicians. The after-market research results take years to develop for people to understand the harmful effects of these drugs. For example, here are some of the drugs that were pulled off the market (years sold before being pulled off) after being in the market for at least a decade: Fenfluramine (23 years), Pamoline (30 years), Permax (19 years), Terfenadine (13 years), Levomethadyl (10 years), Hismanol (11 years), etc. Even the drugs that are approved and not pulled, come with a whole set of side effects that are overlooked by patients as well as some physicians. Their long term effects are really not known, and our double blind, placebo controlled, trials are not really as they are cracked out to be.
So, I would say that there is meaningful room for nutritional/traditional supplements within the marketplace geared toward wellness within the market place. The tall/hyperbolic claims made by some in the nutritional supplement industry invites the ridicule (rightfully so) by many. Similarly, the multiple page fine print of contra-indications (vetted by more lawyers than doctors) listed in the drug safety sheet by the pharmaceutical industry should also deserve ridicule and much needed scrutiny.
Thanks, agree 100% with what you wrote, saved me a lot of time. Doc does describe the long,expensive route to drug approval quite well which is why I won’t invest in bio-tech. Give me Canadian juniors, lol.
We need to hear from people who have taken these nostrums up for a “test flight”, whether the results were positive or negative, miraculous or not. Survivability in the marketplace is probably a good indication of efficacy. Aspirin is an example of this. The question is: who can wait 30 years for the marketplace to filter out the winners?
While I like the idea of the Doc, he needs to brush up on his alternative cures. I agree with the previous poster who said that “Alpha G” is probably AHCC. And it most likely is Macadamia nut oil, and what kind of a health investigator can’t figure out that the tree bark extract in question is Pycnogenol? 0 for 3 on the first try. Not a very auspicious debut. Maybe some practice time with the Thinkolator would help. Or find a volunteer like Myron Martin who knows his stuff.
Thanks for the article. It is an excellent presentation Dr. Johnson.
I had been taking a prescription drugs for my sugar level. Not high level but just a warning to keep it under control. Then I came across a tree bark remedy. I stopped the prescription drugs and exprimented it for about three months (my quarterly sugar level check up). Indeed, it worked. But I did not continue because I ran out of the supply and I have to get it from India. Also it is too much hassle to prepare it and to take it. It’s easy to swallow a pill. Besides, at my age I am not worried about the side effects!
HEY SAM, CAN YOU GIVE US THE NAME OF THE TREE BARK REMEDY, OR DO I HAVE TO BOTHER DR GUMSHOE MD
Thanks for the info. I take so many supplements, and I’m not sure how I would feel if I didn’t take them, so it’s good for me to hear a little more on these subjects. Come back soon!
Interesting, I thot everyone was allergic to mercury, rat poison and solvent which are the preservative in the flu shot and I would say (all the vaccine have these ingredients). I refuse to have a flu shoot and have not taken it in years. I take 5000 unit of Vitamin D a day and that protects me from the flu.
Disclaimer:
I am no doctor either have a good science background, therefore I can read, think and draw my own conclusion.
see links below:
http://blog.nutricell.com/flu-vaccine-debate-part-1 and
http://blog.nutricell.com/the-magical-medicinal-mushroom-2
Be inform
I was interested in your comments about alpha g. I did a little digging on the recommendation and followed it to a product called IgG 200 df by xymogen and ordered it. I had been taking colostrum as an immune booster since I can not have the flu vaccine as I am allergic to something it it and came down with Bell’s Palsy a few years ago. i was certainly happy to find a dairy free, no additive product, and have not had any infections in over a year and a half. Before i used this,I would usually have 3 or 4 bad respiratory infections that turned into chest infections and almost killed me several times and took many months to get over. so maybe this is the hinted alpha g in Pescetore’s article ?
I do belive in several natural supplements, but almost always look for the basic supplement and not a fancy combination of ingredients. So many of the strongly advertised supplements are full of extra ingredients in addition to the primary one that actually does the most for our bodies. The extras are to make up a unique combination that can be claimed as “special” and to justify a high price, and they DO have high prices ! Typical is $18 to $39 for a months supply of a supplement. Some price break is often given for a multiple months order. How would you like putting up $210 for a 6 month supply?
If I need the properties of a particular supplement’s primary ingredient I go to Swanson Vitamins (www.swansonvitamins.com) and order that primary there. I presently buy 9 different supplements there and pay an average of $4.56 for a months supply of each. So I spend $41 per month for all 9 supplements, while the “special” supplements can cost as much as $35 for just one supplement.
I do take Anatabloc, a great anti-inflammation supplement. Anatabloc cost is $80 per bottle of 300 pills but at my rate of consumption my cost is $32 per month and it is well worth that to me. I also take Astaxanthin an excellent antioxidant. Everyone should probably take both of these supplements. My doctor hardly knows about these. Other than the most common vitamins, if it is not a prescription drug, he may not know about it.
If I am need of the benefits of a particular supplement’s properties, I go the the vitamin and supplement supplier named Swanson Vitamins. I find them extremely reliable. I get a months supply for as low as $1.30 and up to $16. My average cost is $4.55 per supplement. Swanson is at http://www.swansonvitamins.com.
I should mention that I do take Anatabloc, the great supplement which fights excess inflammation, and also take astaxanthin for its antioxidant property. Excess Inflammation is a causes of many ailments, pains, and even diseases in the human body. Oxidants are the poisons which are harmful and come from all the pollutants we are exposed to in our modern life.
Can you share your source for anatabloc? The vitamin shops where I get my antioxidants, do not have anatabloc tablets. I do not mind online shopping. Thank you. Maria Montgomery
You can look up Anatabloc at http://www.anatabloc.com
Thanks for an interesting article and the many thought provoking comments. Notwithstanding the Peeter Lamp rather knowledgeable comment (which I appreciate) and the many other excellent comments, including Myron Martin, David Clumpner, Stephen Gillis, Raja Muthupillai, to name a few, this was the most enlightening presentation I have yet reviewed. It should be permanent! Thanks to all, especially the commentators for a wonderful education.
Many thanks to all the readers of yesterday’s DocGumshoe piece. I’ve noted down your questions & will try to address them in future commentaries. Many of you suggested specific identifications for a couple of the “miracle cures” mentioned in the Logical Health Alternatives presentation. I concluded that Alpha G was alpha lipoic acid because Dr Fred Pescatore sells alpha lipoic acid, labelled as “Alpha G,” on his website. However, there are other supplements labelled as “Alpha G.” My central point is that Dr Fred himself is reluctant to proclaim those wonderful health benefits and lets another medium do the heavy lifting.
I am not, in general, a nay-sayer when it comes to alternative medicine, nor yet a committed defender of established medicine and the pharmaceutical industry. There’s a lot of room for skepticism and criticism throughout the spectrum. For example, an issue that I plan to discuss in some detail is screening for both breast and prostate cancer. The U. S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has called both of these into question, making recommendations against mammograms for women under age 50 and against PSA testing for most men. I believe there is substantial evidence that the USPSTF is wrong, and I will put this evidence before you.
In the meantime, I welcome any suggestions as to areas of interest and concern. Thanks again, Michael Jorrin, AKA DocGumshoe
Just a little warning for anyone with “silver” (ie mercury amalgam) fillings in their mouth planning to take Alpha Lipoic Acid (this warning applies to anyone who USED to have mercury fillings too). ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid) crosses the blood brain barrier and is a MOBILIZER and rather POOR chelator of all forms of mercury. Many people have accumulated significant amounts of cerebral mercury that typically target the pituitary gland leading to low cortisol and all the fatigue and hypoglycemia that come with it and also quite frequently “Andropause”, due to the lack of hormonal signalling to the testicles to make Testosterone. People with mercury on the brain usually feel initially very good on ALA, and then quite quicky start feeling quite bad. If you are one of these people STOP TAKING ALA IMMEDIATELY or you are running the very real risk of neurological damage including paralysis in some cases. There are protocols that use ALA SIMULTANEOUSLY with other chelating compounds like DMSA or DMPS according to a 24 hour a day very carefully timed three day on 11 day off protocol that minimizes the danger of having mercury MOVE from ONE PLACE IN THE BRAIN TO ANOTHER! As someone with a dead pituitary who was mercury poisoned BEWARE. For the other people that don’t have this problem ALA is a remarkable supplement worthy of a lot of attention!
In today’s world, one simple fact is – one only needs to CURE a disease ONCE, whereas, that same disease can be TREATED for LIFE.
PLEASE amplify S.M.T.M.
Does anyone on this site have any experience with alternative cures for prostate cancer? It’s well known that cancer cell need an acidic condition in order to survive and grow, and one approach that has been shown to be effective in combating cancer, and particularly metastasis, is the direct injection of baking soda into tumors in order to create an alkaline atmosphere that can cause those cells to die. The difficulty is in how to get that baking soda solution into the prostate tumors — it’s not an easy place to inject nor is it easy to find any medical professional who would be willing to try it.
There are stories of many other approaches on the internet — some sound logical and some don’t seem to make much sense — so I am looking for anyone with direct experience who is willing to share it.
Richard,
As u’v probably noted on google and youtube, there are numerous articles on the curative nature of bicarbonate of soda.
Dr Simoncini is one who has been on the cutting edge of baking soda therapy for sev yrs.
I would also contact Dr Jonathan Wright, (Tahoma Clinic) for a recommendation to someone close to you.
Here are links to research.
Mails from Patients | Simoncini Cancer Center
simoncini-cancer-center.com/en/patient_mail
Emails to Dr. Simoncini. … A. E. – UK. I watched you on TV with know The Cure and treating cancer with Baking soda. I found that very interesting! I hope&pray …
Beating Cancer with Baking Soda | CURE CANCER 75-Don
curecancer73-don.blogspot.com/…/beating-cancer-with-baking-…
by Donald J. Porter – in 29 Google+ circles
Apr 11, 2011 – Dr. Simoncini is convinced that baking soda’s anti-fungal action is the … My success with Beating Stage IV Metastised Prostate Cancer with a …
Cancer & Baking Soda | American Nutrition Association
americannutritionassociation.org/newsletter/cancer-baking-soda
Beehives & Prostate Cancer … Dr. Tullio Simoncini deserves the highest award in medical science for his genius and medical courage … Lowly baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) functions like bunker buster bombs, blasting cancer with shock …
As an addendum I suggest you do extensive research on the whole systemic acid alkaline balance (homeostasis). Most all diseases do not flourish in an alkaline environment.
I would also throw away the toothpaste and ONLY use baking soda and sea salt to brush the entire oral cavity and teeth the LAST thing at night before retiring.
It is essential the mouth maintain an alkaline environ thruout the night. I’ve done this for
15 yrs now and avoided canker/herpes issues as well as having three painful abscessed molars pulled.
Many thanks for your suggested links. I’m very familiar with the work of Tullio Simoncini, but I didn’t know anything about Dr. Jonathan Wright, Donald J. Porter, the americannutritionassociation.org/newsletter or Beehives & Prostate Cancer. I will check them out as well as the other links you suggested. My experience with Dr. Simoncini goes back three years to when my cat developed feline mammary tumors. With the cooperation of a local veterinarian we did contact Dr. Simoncini in Italy and got a protocol from his office to treat her. While we could not get the cat to stand for the three rounds of injections — 6 days on and 6 days off — after the first 6 days the tumors had shrunk drastically. The vet did have to do some selective surgery, but it was minor compared to what it would have been and the cat is alive and well at the ripe old age of 15.
I have gotten my system alkalized — I did the protocol suggested by Vernon Johnston of combining baking soda with molasses so that the molasses would act as a “Trojan Horse” to get the baking soda into the tumor, and in spite of how well it seem to work for him it has had no effect for me. I got my urine pH up to 9 and kept it there for 6 days but both a digital test and a repeat PSA test showed no change.
And, by the way, I brush my teeth with baking powder and also rinse with peroxide.
Forgive my mis-spelling; “Discount-Essiac-Tea.com” Sorry, I’m getting old?
Small correction– I got the wrong information from the lab about the PSA score. The previous score was 18.34 — the score on the test I took this past Monday came in at 12.77!!!
Please check out; “Discount-ssiac-Tea.com”, it has worked for 3 friends who I refered it to. Read about what this does from thiers testamonials on Cancer, Diabetes, Chrons, Arthritis and about 15 others. My wife went through 31 treatments of 1 drug, the 55 treatments of Radiations, then 11 treatments of that crap they gave Patrick Swazey, plus all the other cheo drugs and nauseau drugs, then they sent her home with death expected in 13 weeks, approx. When the insurance company made us get another “Catscan” two months later, no CANCER and then they freaked, then we had to do a “PETSCAN” and it showed no cancer. YEH!!! p.s. None of the drs. or hospitals or Clinics offered a money back guarantee . Check it out.
Darrell et al:
Amazon has a better deal on the Essiac Tea…
I ordered a pound of it for around $20.
Yeah, and that’s why R.N. Rene Cassie wouldn’t give the formula out. The one I used worked, so I’ll stay with them. My personal recommends have used it for, Diabetes, Lung, Pancreatic, Colon, Bladder, Prostrate, Breast and Brain Cancer, Chrons Disease, and artheritis and all are cured including my Arthreitis. This comes from the “Ojibawa Indians”. I hope yours works for you. If you really want to be amazed, Read “Rene Cassie’s Story”, it is truly amazing.
Darrell:
Many thanks for your comment. I just read the “Rene Cassie Story” on the web site for “The Original ESSIAC Company and you are right — it is an amazing story. I have a friend who has been drinking ESSIAC tea for a while since having given up her chemotherapy, and I will check with her tomorrow. Do you personally know of anyone who has used ESSIAC to cure or contain fairly early prostate cancer?
Darrell, you did not answer Cyndy’s question which seems to hurt the credibility of your statement, I am familiar with Cassie’s tea also and would like to hear your reply on the descrepancy……thanks b
Darrell, here you say it worked for 3 friends you referred to it but in your other response to me you said ” I have referred 36 people and 35 who bought and used have been cured including a small child in California with inoprable brain cancer”. Can you please explain this? Also I find no testimonials at there web site. I have the book called “The Essiac Report” and they say that Flor Essence is the original recipe from Rene and Dr. Charles A. Brusch MD. Alot of compelling evidence documented in the book. Facinating
Reading about Alpha Lipoic Acid led me to discover the PAGG stack. I just ordered a 3 month supply from Amazon. I was taking ECA stack with good success, but the side effects and kidney stress just wasn’t worth it.
Thanks all for the really interesting discussion. Doc Gumshoe you are a wonderful addition to this very helpful useful website. Can anyone give me names of forums where the type of stuff discussed here is discussed daily–Thanks
Hopefully u have come to the right sight. However there should be other sites and you challenged me to go exploring.
I first went to Drs Jonathan Wright and Mercola’s websites….Nothing there. Then Mike Adams (Natural Health)….Nope, nothing there either. Quite surprising so I sent Mike a query.
You might want to do the same, asking these experts and others, what interactive blog sites
they recommend.
I have used several supplements to good effect: One for supposodly “Incurable” COPD and the other to reverse Osteporosis – neither with any side effects pills admit to. .
I don’t find Doc Gumshoe enlightening. In fact, I believe that if he were to transcribe any of the BigPharma ads we are treated to nightly on TV networks, they would appear more pathetic, more misleading, and more like “snake oil” than the copy that Dr Fred used to sell his supplements. I have worked for pharma companies and spent a lot of time reading the warnings. I also know exactly how low the bar is for FDA approval of drugs, so reassurances that “science” backs up the claims is misleading at best. To get a new drug approved, you only have to show it is as effective as the current standard, which itself may only help a small percentage of patients.
While I have never been his patient, I know people who have been treated by Fred Pescatore (Dr Fred), and I know he helps people who have not been helped by traditional allopathic practitioners, probably the reason they have sought out a practitioner like him, who is interested in therapies from a variety of sources, including herbs, Ayurveda (traditional medicine from India), Chinese traditional medicine, acupuncture, and energy healing. I believe these sources have something to offer us, and I have personally used them to treat my own high blood pressure, which pharmaceutical treatments affected but with undesirable side effects; arthritis, for which I have effectively eliminated pain, and disabling pack pain and sciatica. Years of treatments from orthopedists, physiatrists, and even physical therapists did not alleviate my symptoms, but following the dietary advice and taking herbs recommended by an Ayurvedic practitioner did, and within a month to six weeks.
Now is it true that alternative remedies will not work the same way for everyone? Yes, that is no doubt the case. But trying these on your own will probably not cause you harm either, and it the treatment chosen doesn’t work, you can always go to someone practiced in the healing arts who can give you an idea of what might work for you. Just as with allopathic medicine, any healing practice is part art, and if you don’t see results from treating yourself, based on your research and the advice of others, there is no substitute for going to someone who has practiced that art with many patients.