Radiation therapy quotes
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Radiation therapy
"I had a brain cancer specialist sit in my living room and tell me that he would never take radiation if he had a brain tumor. And I asked him, 'but, do you send people for radiation?' and he said, of course. 'I'd be drummed out of the hospital if I didn't."---Ralph Moss
[2009 Nov]
Risks of Mammography: Hidden Role of the American Cancer
Society Five radiologists have served
as presidents of the American Cancer Society (ACS). In its every
move, the ACS promotes the interests of the major manufacturers of
mammogram machines and films, including Siemens, DuPont, General
Electric, Eastman Kodak, and Piker. This
bias hypes mammography, which Dr. Epstein and Rosalie Bertell, Ph.D.
of the International Physicians for Humanitarian Medicine emphasize
is an avoidable cause of breast cancer.
"The mammography
industry conducts research for the ACS and its grantees, serves on
its advisory boards, and donates considerable funds," they warn.
"DuPont also is a substantial backer of the ACS Breast Health
Awareness Program; sponsors television shows and other media
productions touting ACS literature for hospitals, clinics, medical
organization, and doctors; produces educational films; and
aggressively lobbies Congress for legislation promoting the
nationwide availability of mammography services."
In virtually all its
actions, the ACS has been and remains strongly linked with the
mammography industry. Meanwhile, it ignores or attacks breast self
examination (BSE), following training by expert nurses or
clinicians, which is the safe and effective alternative, say Drs.
Epstein and Bertell.
These "proven" cancer treatments are themselves largely unproven. The
standard of proof for therapeutic efficacy is in fact a double standard. Surgery
was grandfathered in as standard practice early in the twentieth century without
randomized, double-blind clinical trials, which only became widespread in the
1960s with the advent of chemotherapy. Its dangers and limitations have since
been only superficially acknowledged or studied, and little is known about its
efficacy in relation to a baseline marker of no treatment.
Like surgery, radiation therapy was grandfathered in without
rigorous testing. Radiation is carcinogenic and mutagenic. In the few tests
comparing radiation treatment against no treatment, according to Jones, "Most of
the time, it makes not the slightest difference if the machine is turned on or
not." Jones went even further, saying, "My studies have proved conclusively that
untreated cancer victims actually live up to four times longer." Radiation is
often combined with surgery despite the fact that tests have generally shown it
made no apparent favorable difference. A recent study with patients with the
most common form of lung cancer found that postoperative radiation therapy,
which is routinely given, actually raises the relative risk of death by 21
percent, with its most detrimental effects on those in the early stages of
illness. Nevertheless, radiation is used on about half of cancer patients.
When Healing Becomes a Crime --Kenny
Ausubel
"I look upon cancer in the same way that I look upon heart disease, arthritis, high blood pressure, or even obesity, for that matter, in that by dramatically strengthening the body's immune system through diet, nutritional supplements, and exercise, the body can rid itself of the cancer, just as it does in other degenerative diseases. Consequently, I wouldn't have chemotherapy and radiation because I'm not interested in therapies that cripple the immune system, and, in my opinion, virtually ensure failure for the majority of cancer patients."---Dr Julian Whitaker, M.D.
"Up to 10% of childhood cancers are caused by radiological examination during pregnancy."---(Prof. R. Doll, Nature, Vol. 265, 1977, page 589.)
The fact that breast irradiation increases the risk of heart disease is not a new finding. Starting in the late 1960s, it became known that, after receiving adjuvant radiation to prevent breast cancer recurrence, more women than expected were dying of heart disease, sometimes decades after their initial surgery. It took brilliant medical detective work to prove that this apparently successful use of radiation therapy was also the cause of many cardiac deaths (Fajardo 2001). So many women were dying of the long-term adverse effects, in fact, that it more or less counterbalanced any survival benefit from the treatment itself.[1995 BMJ] Brachial plexus neuropathy after radiotherapy for breast cancer The committee of RAGE received more than 1000 letters after publicity surrounding litigation and formed an action group with 800 members. Of 556 women who thought they had sustained nerve damage the college contacted those who had been treated at 15 representative centres......While radiotherapy has an important effect in preventing local recurrence and thus improving quality of life, a recent overview shows no significant impact on 10 year survival. Indeed, a 5% reduction in deaths from breast cancer seems to be counterbalanced by an increase in deaths from other causes.
[March 2008] OVERCOMING THE ADVERSE EFFECTS OF RADIATION TREATMENT FOR CANCER Ralph Moss the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) increasingly approves cancer drugs without requiring that they be shown to prolong life. Indeed, FDA's approval standards have now become so lenient that in most instances the manufacturer of a drug only has to demonstrate that in clinical trials the drug performs better than a placebo in order to be confident of a smooth passage through the approval process. .......some kinds of cancer treatment have become the standard of care without ever having been evaluated in clinical trials. Many forms of radiation treatment, for example, have simply been "grandfathered in," - i.e., accepted by default largely on the basis of having been around for a long time. ......in many instances the relative merits of different kinds of radiation treatment, the limits of its usefulness and the extent of its effectiveness have never been clearly established through clinical trials. This has led to a situation where on the one hand the treatment is almost universally available, yet on the other hand there is very little solid evidence comparing the effectiveness of radiation to various other treatment approaches.
[1995 BMJ] Brachial plexus neuropathy after radiotherapy for breast cancer The committee of RAGE received more than 1000 letters after publicity surrounding litigation and formed an action group with 800 members. Of 556 women who thought they had sustained nerve damage the college contacted those who had been treated at 15 representative centres......While radiotherapy has an important effect in preventing local recurrence and thus improving quality of life, a recent overview shows no significant impact on 10 year survival. Indeed, a 5% reduction in deaths from breast cancer seems to be counterbalanced by an increase in deaths from other causes.
[2008 Nov]
Why won't our doctors face up to the dangers of radiotherapy?
the lung lesions were diagnosed as a side-effect of the radiotherapy
Richard had undergone for his cancer. However, his problems only got worse: a
few weeks after a routine tooth extraction, the bone around the extraction
started to crumble and become infected. Within months he had an open weeping
wound, running from his lower cheek through his jaw and into his mouth. The
diagnosis: bone necrosis as a direct result of radiotherapy damage to the jaw.
Around 4 to 5 per cent of all
head and neck cancer patients suffer problems with swallowing or breathing,
fistulas (open holes) in the jaw and gum, loss of taste and hearing.
But the problem is not unique
to these cancers. Up to 10 per cent of breast cancer patients suffer radiation
damage to their heart, lungs or the nerves to the arms (leading to loss of
circulation and movement).
Every year, another
6,000 patients who've had pelvic radiotherapy treatment for conditions such as
bowel cancer suffer long-term damage (including incontinence). A thousand of
these patients go on to suffer even worse problems, such as intestinal failure
or heavy bleeding.
Alan, from Christchurch, Dorset, has suffered
unimaginable pain. He has also suffered the indignity of urine leaking out
through his back passage after he developed an internal fistula 12cm long,
running from the top of his bladder to what was left of his lower bowel.
Four years ago my ribs started to fracture, from doing nothing in particular, once I was draining water from a pan of potatoes and a rib fractured ! I have had 7 fractures in all. The hospital breast clinic gave me scans, xrays and tests and said I had osteopenia in that area, which is not quite osteoporosis. They said it is probably from the radium treatment I had. They would not answer anymore of my questions except to say that 'the machines were different in those days'. I am in pain everyday. Everything I do is painful. I am afraid to use my arm, but of course I have to. [2008 Nov] Why won't our doctors face up to the dangers of radiotherapy?
My Mum had a large number of intense radiotherapy sessions for the treatment of cervical cancer four years ago, and recently one of my close friends has received the same treatment schedule. Both have been left with weak bowels and low tolerance to food with any great quantity of fibre and have both been fobbed off by their treating consultants. Neither were told that this may have been a side effect - and my mum in particular was told by her consultant 'it's better to be double incontinent than dead' My friend was told something similar after she had pointed out that she was experiencing some difficulties in being out of the house for long periods of time...[2008 Nov] Why won't our doctors face up to the dangers of radiotherapy?