Alternative Treatment

dunesleeper

I ordered Bitter Raw Apricot Kernels - 1 Lb Bag Sold by: Apricot Power. If these are for real, I will order more. I plan to eat 5-10 of these a day. Since there is no evidence of cancer, I am thinking this will be a good detterrent . . . along with the healthy, primarily vegetarian diet I currently eat. Does anyone have any experience with this? I know I read somewhere that it would be nearly impossible to get raw bitter almonds. The FDA saw to that by pasteurizing all almonds, which destroys an enzyme in the bitter almonds that allows the arsenic in them to kill cancer cells. Also, I make sure to eat my apple seeds and try to have an apple each day.

FYI: I got an apple at Panera's. It had no seeds, which leads me to suspect it is genetically modified. I wrote to Panera's and they will neither confirm nor deny that they use GMOs. If you would like to let them know that you are interested in healthy choices and do not want GMOs, you can go to their website and use the "contact us" function to make your thoughts known.

abigail48

I once wrote egglan's best about that nasty colored stamp, sure enough it was red color # whatever.  I wondered why the eggs did not taste good when the hype said they did.

I plan to shell apricot pits this year when our market opens again.......?????????

I looked for goosberries in the mrs m grieve, idiotically I have only vol I so no tomatillos, perhaps on the web, she says goosberries are an antiinflamatory

dunesleeper

I don't trust that those supermarket eggs, even if they say they are organic, are really quite right. Their yolks are still that yellow color. Eggs from real organic free range chickens treated humanely have orange yolks. I'm getting pretty picky these days. Also, I just ordered a vertical chicken roaster. I will buy real chicken from real local farmers and roast them myself. I liked the garlic and rosemary rotisserie chickens at Shoppers's. I'll roast my own with garlic and rosemary. I bet humanely raised animals are better food for the body . . . energetically as well as nutritionally.

abigail48

when gary's on the road & in a resturant, he says "  I'd like some brocolli with my garlic"

leggo

For those who swear by garlic:

supremes from two navel oranges

4 garlic cloves

2 tsp. honey

Shmoosh with a hand blender or equivalent.

Tastes not to horrible, decent spread consistency (for toast) and I haven't had a cold in 10 years...cancer, but not a cold.

luv_gardening

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Null

Gary Null is a pretty outspoken and controversial character if this Wikipedia report is accurate.  He reminds me of someone I used to get an alternative health newsletter from who was also an outspoken AIDS denier.  In one of his last newsletters he admitted to being gay and ill, and in the next newsletter his staff wrote he had passed away from (AIDS related) pneumonia. It was more than 10 years ago so I don't remember his name.

I guess he would have died anyway as treatments weren't developed at the time, and hope his denial at least gave him some sort of comfort. I liked his newsletter and it was a big shock at the time. I know many good people also have crazy ideas and just ignore the crazy if they also have good points. But it certainly puts a question mark over their logic and puts everything they say in doubt.  We're all crazy to some extent though and must always question everything whether it's the mad scientist or our own doctor advising us.

abigail48

many have said the wikkipedia on gary isn't accurate.  another has said he's not as he seems.  mostly what I know is what he says:  he has his blood checked often for everything, he's mostly celebate, occasionally he has a short affair with a woman, usually ended because she can't take is involvment as a teacher, (this is true I think of most teachers, their priotity is others), he's never been sick, used to free the meat animals on his relatives farm & wouldn't eat a meal if anyone had coughed.  rins several marathons a year, has a running & walking club for the training of them, open to everyone, every few years.

yesterday he mentioned red oranges, best citrus next pink grapefruit.  I guess lemons are best?

abigail48

as for aids:  my father's helper, when he was in his 90ies, had "aids" & used azt (?), I told my stepmother that it was no good, of course she believed the medical people, he died.  gary has said the main cause of deathe in that community is liver falure which is not an "aids defining illness" but is from the toxicity of the drugs.

exbrnxgrl

Don't want to argue, and this is not an AIDS/HIV forum but the survival rate of those on ARV's, anti- retro virals has allowed most AIDS patients to live a long life. That simply was not true before their use. I live in the San Francisco area, ground zero in the early 80's as the disease emerged. It's a whole different world since ARV's. Do some patients have adverse outcomes from them? Yes, but by and large it has been a miraculous game changer. Walk through the Castro and survey the community. I doubt anyone wants to go back to pre-ARV days. Caryn ps: prior to ARV's virtually no one who was HiIV positive in their youth had a chance to see 90,

luv_gardening

I've seen some of Gary's photo's and videos since I posted and he certainly looks young and remarkably healthy for his age.  I didn't mean to start a discussion about AIDS.  I know almost nothing about that subject.

abigail48

I know quite a bit as I believe I've contracted it 3 times.  I believe it's a very old trouble, gary thinks it's not sexually transmitted, I disagree.  the first time I was a young girl, I've told you about that, the second time a sexual encounter not completed, the third time I figured something was wrong, I was at the um of wisc madison & did some research in the libraries, realized the medical cmmunity didn't (yet) have a clue.  this was 1972.  in 1983 I began getting symptoms other than the pneumonias.  did more research, about then interferon was being touted, I thought maybe I should go to a dr & get some of that, but of course I never did.  viruses in particular age out, become stressed & attenuated when they become prevalent & eventually fade out naturally.  that's what happened to me.  be nice if tis (these) would too, but I was a lot younger & stronger then

Anonymous

Wiki is the least reliable source when it comes to ANYTHING alternative.  It is riddled with quackpot fabulations and delusions.  

Gary Null & Associates Inc. against Wikimedia Foundation Inc. Supreme Court of the State of New York Index #09112745. Filed Sept 8, 2009. (libel suit)

BEWARE of Quackwatch--biased "research" from Wikipedia

"Watching the Watchdogs at Quackwatch" by Joel M. Kauffman, Ph.D. (Professor Emeritus of the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at University of the Sciences in Philadelphia), was published in the Journal of Scientific Exploration which provides a forum for scientific research on topics outside established disciplines of mainstream science. Kauffman is also the author of Malignant Medical Myths: Why Medical Treatment Causes 200,000 Deaths in the USA each Year and How to Protect Yourself.

His website review in JSE examined eight Quackwatch articles for factuality, fairness and scientific currency; Kauffman claimed the articles were "contaminated with incomplete data, obsolete data, technical errors, unsupported opinions, and/or innuendo" and cited the peer-reviewed literature in support of his conclusions. Kauffman wrote that:

"Hostility to all alternatives was expected and observed from the website, but not repetition of groundless dogma from mainstream medicine. It remains a mystery how they [Quackwatch] and I have interpreted the same body of medical science and reached such divergent conclusions.It is very probable that many vistors to the website have been misled by the trappings of scientific objectivity. At least 3 of the activities in the Mission Statement have been shown to be flawed as actually executed. Medical practitioners such as Robert Atkins, Elmer Cranton and Stanislaw Burzynski, whom I demonstrated are not quacks, were attacked with the energy one would hope to be focused on real quacks. The use of this website is not recommended. It could be deleterious to your health"

abigail48

ooh, maud, appreciate that, Hadn't known of it though I did know gary was very litigenous

leggo

You contracted AIDS three times?....went away on it's own? This conversation has officially entered the twilight zone, not to mention a comment that was made several pages back. I feel stupid contributing to this thread now. See you all when we get back on track. 

Momine

Gracie, the magically disappearing HIV threw me for a loop too. I am also not clear on who made the BC DX in this case. 

exbrnxgrl

Oddly enough, there have been some very rare cases of people whose viral loads have diminished on their own. These were people whose HIV status was confirmed by medical doctors and monitored over the years. The number is so small that it is statistically insignificant and the reason for the remissions is unclear. However, this is not the case for most with HIV and none of those good people were self diagnosed.

Caryn PS: I take responsibility for furthering the HIV discussion as I just couldn't let the mis-information on ARV's sit out there. My apologies and now back to bc /p>

NattyOnFrostyLake

The full 89 minute documentary HOUSE OF NUMBERS is now available on YouTube that is worth watching about out about how some people diagnosed with HIV get retested and don't appear to have the virus. The data raises a lot of questions. The diagnosis ruins their lives and they are never sure.

The old HIV information from the past is being challenged because there are huge contradictions in the data. Keep an open mind or feel free to cover your ears.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwgmzbnckIIe

leggo

Caryn, please don't apologize. I appreciate all info, but sometimes I just have to question the source. Once, sure. Twice, maybe. Three times, no. I firmly believe that if we can keep AIDS in check for the majority, we can do the same with BC....hopefully...some day...if we get angry enough...and loud enough.

exbrnxgrl

Gracie,

I'm pretty open and think everyone should make their own choices. I agree that self diagnosis crosses the bounds of credibility. Caryn

abigail48

of course  I didn't do nothing.  first, a 7 day brown rice fast, did this help?  who knows.  I visited my mother who had a couple of dwarf cumquat or loquat trees, 3 loped fruits, can't ever tell the names apart, they were in fruit & I at a great deal of them off the tree.  I slowly became totally celebate, finally the only sex I had was in sleep as the buddha reccommends, I was still young & I had quite a bit of that, & I wonder what kinds of strains I got.  I think most troubles are a perfect storm.  for ours a number of viruses perhaps, not just the estrogen pills, the fennel, the royall jelly, (before I knew estrogen wasn't sex), & I doubt if it's gone away totally, I began getting symptoms again with this latest trouble, a pneumonia I hadn't had in over 10 years, others

Momine

Thanks for the link to the video, although the film appears to be more than just a little controversial. My cousin is a long-term survivor, and one of those rare people in whom the virus seems to stagnate. However, she still has HIV/AIDS.

NattyOnFrostyLake

Yes, Momine, I would hope the film would be "controversial" and have people reexamine the data on AIDS. The data in the film shows that the previous HIV treatment guidelines are profoundly controversial in light of new research.



We can't stop questioning. If a treatment/diagnosis is truly meaningful it should withstand any scrutiny.

abigail48

& I would suspect that after the first time in1946 by the docktors, that I would have gotten some immunity

regarding the video, just the look of those capsules, that isnt blue # 3 & red # 5 from blueberries & rasberries:  why would anyone eat such things

Momine

Patty, yes it is good to question. Let's leave it at that.

Anonymous

Selective growth inhibition of human breast cancer cells by graviola fruit extract in vitro and in vivo involving downregulation of EGFR expression 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21767082

it's part of my arsenal  

Momine

Maud, that is interesting, thanks for the link. Do you have any idea how one finds out if one's cancer is overexpressing EGFR?

It also looks like you need a rather large dose. 

Anonymous

Abi, have been taking miracle boswelia.  You could obtain it or make your own oil for transdermal application 

Boswellia sacra essential oil induces tumor cell-specific apoptosis and suppresses tumor aggressiveness in cultured human breast cancer cells 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3258268/?tool=pubmed 

Momine, whether one is overexpressing EGFR or not, graviola will DO NO HARM, and most likely works on various other levels 

Momine

As far as I can see, graviola can cause parkinson's, so I would probably want to know my EGFR status, before taking it.

Ang7

See, this is what bothers me so much about this site...

I was told by my doctor that graviola could cause Parkinson's disease.

How can you post "graviola will DO NO HARM" Maud? 

Do you know information that my doctor does not know?

NattyOnFrostyLake

Gee, maybe we should post the adverse effects of chemotherapy according to Wikipedia. Just so everybody has informed consent. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemotherapy#Adverse_effects

 Thanks, Ang, for the reminder.

 Adverse effects

Chemotherapeutic techniques have a range of side-effects that depend on the type of medications used. The most common medications affect mainly the fast-dividing cells of the body, such as blood cells and the cells lining the mouth, stomach, and intestines. Common side-effects include:^[21]

• Depression of the immune system, which can result in potentially fatal infections. Although patients are encouraged to wash their hands, avoid sick people, and take other infection-reducing steps, about 85% of infections are due to naturally occurring microorganisms in the patient's own gastrointestinal tract (including oral cavity) and skin.^[22] This may manifest as systemic infections, such as sepsis, or as localized outbreaks, such as Herpes simplex, shingles, or other members of the Herpesviridea.^[23] Sometimes, chemotherapy treatments are postponed because the immune system is suppressed to a critically low level.
• Fatigue. The treatment can be physically exhausting for the patient, who might already be very tired from cancer-related fatigue. It may produce mild to severe anemia. Treatments to mitigate anemia include hormones to boost blood production (erythropoietin), iron supplements, and blood transfusions.
• Tendency to bleed easily. Medications that kill rapidly dividing cells or blood cells are likely to reduce the number of platelets in the blood, which can result in bruises and bleeding. Extremely low platelet counts may be temporarily boosted through platelet transfusions. Sometimes, chemotherapy treatments are postponed to allow platelet counts to recover.
• Gastrointestinal distress. Nausea and vomiting are common side-effects of chemotherapeutic medications that kill fast-dividing cells. This can also produce diarrhea or constipation. Malnutrition and dehydration can result when the patient does not eat or drink enough, or when the patient vomits frequently, because of gastrointestinal damage. This can result in rapid weight loss, or occasionally in weight gain, if the patient eats too much in an effort to allay nausea or heartburn. Weight gain can also be caused by some steroid medications. These side-effects can frequently be reduced or eliminated with antiemetic drugs. Self-care measures, such as eating frequent small meals and drinking clear liquids or ginger tea, are often recommended. This is a temporary effect, and frequently resolves within a week of finishing treatment.
• Hair loss. Some medications that kill rapidly dividing cells cause dramatic hair loss; other medications may cause hair to thin. These are most often temporary effects: hair usually starts to regrow a few weeks after the last treatment, sometimes with a tendency to curl, resulting in "chemo curls." Permanent hair loss can result from some standard chemotherapy regimens. Scalp cooling offers a means of preventing both permanent and temporary hair loss.

Damage to specific organs is possible:

• Cardiotoxicity (heart damage)
• Hepatotoxicity (liver damage)
• Nephrotoxicity (kidney damage)
• Ototoxicity (damage to the inner ear), producing vertigo
• Encephalopathy (brain dysfunction)

[edit] Immunosuppression and myelosuppression

Virtually all chemotherapeutic regimens can cause depression of the immune system, often by paralysing the bone marrow and leading to a decrease of white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. Anemia and thrombocytopenia, when they occur, are improved with blood transfusion. Neutropenia (a decrease of the neutrophil granulocyte count below 0.5 x 10⁹/litre) can be improved with synthetic G-CSF (granulocyte-colony-stimulating factor, e.g., filgrastim, lenograstim).

In very severe myelosuppression, which occurs in some regimens, almost all the bone marrow stem cells (cells that produce white and red blood cells) are destroyed, meaning allogenic or autologous bone marrow cell transplants are necessary. (In autologous BMTs, cells are removed from the patient before the treatment, multiplied and then re-injected afterward; in allogenic BMTs, the source is a donor.) However, some patients still develop diseases because of this interference with bone marrow.

In Japan, the government has approved the use of some medicinal mushrooms like Trametes versicolor, to counteract depression of the immune system in patients undergoing chemotherapy.^[24]

[edit] Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV)

Further information: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting

Nausea and vomiting are two of the most feared cancer treatment-related side-effects for cancer patients and their families. In 1983, Coates et al. found that patients receiving chemotherapy ranked nausea and vomiting as the first- and second-most-severe side-effects, respectively. Up to 20% of patients receiving highly emetogenic agents in this era postponed, or even refused, potentially curable treatments.^[25] Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) are common with many treatments and some forms of cancer. Since the 1990s, several novel classes of antiemetics have been developed and commercialized, becoming a nearly universal standard in chemotherapy regimens, and helping to successfully manage these symptoms in a large portion of patients. Effective mediation of these unpleasant and sometimes-crippling symptoms results in increased quality of life for the patient and more efficient treatment cycles, due to less stoppage of treatment due to better tolerance by the patient, and due to better overall health of the patient.

[edit] Secondary neoplasm

Development of secondary neoplasia after successful chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy treatment can occur. The most common secondary neoplasm is secondary acute myeloid leukemia, which develops primarily after treatment with alkylating agents or topoisomerase inhibitors.^[26] Survivors of childhood cancer are more than 13 times as likely to get a secondary neoplasm during the 30 years after treatment than the general population.^[27] Not all of this increase can be attributed to chemotherapy.

[edit] Infertility

Some types of chemotherapy are gonadotoxic and may cause infertility.^[28] Chemotherapies with high risk include procarbazine and other alkylating drugs such as cyclophosphamide, ifosfamide, busulfan, melphalan, chlorambucil, and chlormethine.^[28] Drugs with medium risk include doxorubicin and platinum analogs such as cisplatin and carboplatin.^[28] On the other hand, therapies with low risk of gonadotoxicity include plant derivatives such as vincristine and vinblastine, antibiotics such as bleomycin and dactinomycin, and antimetabolites such as methotrexate, mercaptopurine, and 5-fluorouracil.^[28]

Patients may choose between several methods of fertility preservation prior to chemotherapy, including cryopreservation of semen, ovarian tissue, oocytes, or embryos.^[29] As more than half of cancer patients are elderly, this adverse effect is only relevant for a minority of patients.

[edit] Teratogenicity

Chemotherapy is potentially teratogenic during pregnancy, especially during the first trimester, to the extent that abortion usually is recommended if pregnancy in this period is found during chemotherapy.^[30] Second- and third-trimester exposure does not usually increase the teratogenic risk and adverse effects on cognitive development, but it may increase the risk of various complications of pregnancy and fetal myelosuppression.^[30]

In males previously having undergone chemotherapy or radiotherapy, there appears to be no increase in genetic defects or congenital malformations in their children conceived after therapy.^[30] The use of assisted reproductive technologies and micromanipulation techniques might increase this risk.^[30] In females previously having undergone chemotherapy, miscarriage and congenital malformations are not increased in subsequent conceptions.^[30] However, when in vitro fertilization and embryo cryopreservation is practised between or shortly after treatment, possible genetic risks to the growing oocytes exist, and hence it has been recommended that the babies be screened.^[30]

[edit] Neurological adverse effects

Reported are cytotoxic-induced neuropathy causing pain^[31] or paralysis. Some patients report fatigue or non-specific neurocognitive problems, such as an inability to concentrate; this is sometimes called post-chemotherapy cognitive impairment, referred to as "chemo brain" by patients' groups.^[32]

[edit] Other side effects

In particularly large tumors, such as large lymphomas, some patients develop tumor lysis syndrome from the rapid breakdown of malignant cells. Although prophylaxis is available and is often initiated in patients with large tumors, this is a dangerous side-effect that can lead to death if left untreated.

Less common side-effects include red skin (erythema), dry skin, damaged fingernails, a dry mouth (xerostomia), water retention, and sexual impotence. Some medications can trigger allergic or pseudoallergic reactions.

Specific chemotherapeutic agents are associated with organ-specific toxicities, including cardiovascular disease (e.g., doxorubicin), interstitial lung disease (e.g., bleomycin) and occasionally secondary neoplasm (e.g., MOPP therapy for Hodgkin's disease).

[edit] Occupational precautions

Healthcare workers exposed to antineoplastic agents take precautions to keep their exposure to a minimum. There is a limitation in cytotoxics dissolution in Australia and the United States to 20 dissolutions per pharmacist/nurse, since pharmacists that prepare these drugs or nurses that may prepare or administer them are the two occupational groups with the highest potential exposure to antineoplastic agents. In addition, physicians and operating room personnel may also be exposed through the treatment of patients. Hospital staff, such as shipping and receiving personnel, custodial workers, laundry workers, and waste handlers, all have potential exposure to these drugs during the course of their work. The increased use of antineoplastic agents in veterinary oncology also puts these workers at risk for exposure to these drugs.^[33]