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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsYoung woman with cancer is killing herself via alternative treatment
From Respectful Insolence, of course.
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2015/07/28/another-unnecessary-death-in-the-making-thanks-to-cancer-quackery/
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I hate stories like this, but what I hate even more is the way stories like this are all too commonly reported. Readers have been sending me links to stories about a woman named Alex Wynn that have been published over the last few days, in particular this story about her in the Daily Mail (better known as the Daily Fail when it comes to medical stories). As is the Fails wont, the headline blares Newlywed shuns chemotherapy for CARROTS as she vows to beat cancer with alternative therapies while trying for a baby even though doctors warn theres no evidence they work, with a picture of an attractive young woman proudly smiling next to a juicer sitting on a kitchen counter loaded with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, bananas, cucumbers, oranges, apples, limes, and
you get the idea, with the caption Alex Wynn has shunned traditional cancer cures of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy in favour of a strict diet, Vitamin C drip and sessions of pure oxygen.
...
Unfortunately, this is wishful thinking at its worst. There are the requisite doctors quoted saying that diet like this cant cure cancer and that Wynn should receive conventional therapy, but the overall tone of the article makes Wynn seem like an appealing, brave woman, rather than a woman making a tragically misguided choice that could well result in her death if she doesnt change course soon enough.
Much of what Wynn is doing is cancer quackery Ive discussed before, such as high dose vitamin C, various food as medicine cancer cures, alkaline diet quackery, and the like. For instance, my first introduction to cancer quackery occurred when I was a general surgery resident. Twenty years ago at the beginning of my chief resident year when I was rotating on the chairmans service, one of the senior surgeons admitted a patient for an abdominoperineal resection (APR). This is a nasty operation that, with the advent of chemoradiation regimens that shrink tumors effectively before surgery is thankfully rarely done any more. Basically, an APR involves removing the rectum and anus, sewing the hole shut, and leaving the patient with a permanent colostomy. The reason was because he had a large rectal cancer that could not be removed without removing his anal sphincter.
The patients rectal cancer had gotten so large because he had refused conventional treatment when his tumor had been diagnosed at a much smaller size. Instead, for more than a year he had pursued a carrot-heavy juicing regimen of some sort, very likely similar to the one that Wynn has started, plus coffee enemas. I had never heard of such things at the time, but now I know in retrospect that he was probably doing some version of the Gerson protocol. Whatever the specific regimen he had pursued, besides his needing an APR, another result had been that the mans skin was the most amazing shade of orange, which inspired me when I wrote about his case ten years ago to call my post The Orange Man. As I put it that post, early on in my blogging career, the Orange Man was the first to teach me that alternative medicine that is ineffective is not harmless. That was 20 years ago, and Ive never forgotten the lesson.
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I really hope this woman comes to her senses before we have to read her obituary.
still_one
(92,251 posts)the case you presented it would probably take family members and doctors to persuade her.
There is a thin line between freedom of speech and quack cures
NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)My grandmother said that after a cousin bought her a juicer and a 25 lb bag of carrots more than a dozen years ago when she was dying of bone cancer.
SidDithers
(44,228 posts)Gorski rocks.
Sid
Hekate
(90,721 posts)None of those Big Pharma toxic substances for her.
MineralMan
(146,318 posts)Uff da!
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)Humanist_Activist
(7,670 posts)I'm sorry for this young woman, but I also worry that articles that are sympathetic are enough to convince others to try the same thing. Its not like the Daily Fail will post a follow up and expose with her obituary.
Freddie Stubbs
(29,853 posts)the subjects that they eventually report on.
hatrack
(59,587 posts)Science journalism in the US these days, even in most "papers of record", is a dog's breakfast of journalistic fail, with hapless paragraphs bumbling across the landscape, begging for the mercy of gunshot death.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)But if you do get it, due to genetic make up, environmental toxins, or whatever, then it's a battle that requires the big guns.
taught_me_patience
(5,477 posts)if the tumor isn't shrinking, it's pretty obvious that whatever therapy she's on isn't working. Chemo, radiation , and surgery is the ONLY chance she has to cure the cancer.
Humanist_Activist
(7,670 posts)what the doctors are saying about them, etc.
In other words, there's a good chance it will do the opposite of what you are saying.
taught_me_patience
(5,477 posts)to measure her progress. She also seems worried about becoming infertile... she could simply freeze her eggs. Painful to read all the way around.
Left coast liberal
(1,138 posts)...but it is her life or death and she has the right.
Here is the good old USA, if she was to get the mainstream cancer drugs it might costs her $100K, perhaps backrupt her and her family and may die anyway.
Just sayin' folks!
Judge not!
RadiationTherapy
(5,818 posts)With the exception of drugs in their various forms and "schedules", adults 18 and over are, obviously, able and free to ingest or not ingest what they like.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)Everyone should have the right to do whatever they wish with their own bag of meat so long as it's not bothering anyone else.
That being said I also have a right to say it's fucking stupid and hopefully if enough people similarly do so it will inoculate other idiots from thinking this is a good idea.
wendylaroux
(2,925 posts)Chemo and radiation are toxic and painful,and really, they are not guaranteed long term survival,5 yrs maybe?
Godhumor
(6,437 posts)At her age and estimated severity, with real treatment, 20 year survivability is between approximately 60 and 80%.
hobbit709
(41,694 posts)Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)I might not make the same choices if I ever find myself in her shoes, but it is her choice as long as she is not a child.
RadiationTherapy
(5,818 posts)without corresponding refutations by experts seems irresponsible to me. Not so much where I am interested in curbing anyone's freedoms though.
Godhumor
(6,437 posts)Grown people can make their own choices, but when media promotes it as legit... Well, it can convince others to opt out of real treatments and settle for something that is guaranteed to result in tragedy.
kcr
(15,317 posts)It's also a valid criticism of any media that portrays it as a valid and rational choice, as the OP seemed to be.
Marrah_G
(28,581 posts)Oneironaut
(5,506 posts)Etc. Etc.
There are actually people who think and argue that the world is flat. Nothing surprises me anymore.
davidn3600
(6,342 posts)And there is reason to fear it. Chemo is not like taking an aspirin. It plays havoc on the body and can make you look and feel like death. There is no guarantee it will work. Doctors will tell you over and over that you may die anyway. And when you start to see the medical bills, you'll want to die. The cost of this treatment is nothing short of outrageous.
It's easy to understand why some people have skepticism or fear.
vankuria
(904 posts)since it sounds like the cancer may have been detected early enough and has a high success rate. Of the many problems with younger women getting breast cancer is that because they are too young for mammography, it can go undetected for too long. Also because of their high estrogen levels it can grow very quickly and spread to other organs and bones. I have a friend who's daughter was only in her late 20's when she was diagnosed and it wasn't detected until it had metastasized. She underwent all the typical procedures, but it was too late and she lost her battle.
I know this young lady is worried about her fertility, but what good is fertility if you have metastasized breast cancer? Or for that matter having a child and dying before you have a chance to raise them.
TacoD
(581 posts)http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=5296778
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5415089&mesg_id=5415429
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=5005578&mesg_id=5005830
restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)he did it for 4 months and said enough. no more. it was not working. does not always work.
her body her choice.
i wish her well
Warpy
(111,283 posts)They fear the disease and its pain and their shortened lifespan far less. These people, once told the medical facts, should be allowed to dose themselves with whatever they can find while their families compose the obituary.
The people who need to be constrained by law are the people who say that any of this stuff is a cancer cure. Some of it can help patients undergoing conventional treatment feel better and for that reason, it can be a good thing. However, no one should espouse it as a substitution.
Now there are a few cancers out there I would elect not to treat, opting for palliative (comfort) care, instead. However, there is no way I'd be suckered by any of these diet/supplement fakers.
Maybe this bird will smarten up when the overload of beta carotene starts to cause her significant problems and figure conventional treatment can't be worse.