Burzynski

Thought-provoking and the reason I chose no chemo.

Placebo - I do not understand what forgiving oneself has to do with any of this, and I do not think the power of life lies in one's attitude or one's mind.  No one yet understand what makes a particular organization of organic molecules alive, but we are getting closer.  Energy is not some mystical thing, it is quantifiable, and if you want to understand life, you might begin by studying organic chemistry.  Haven't you ever wondered exactly how your cells get and use oxygen they need for energy (to power life)?  It is not a mystery, but you need a lot of science to really understand it. Science is work, mumbo jumbo is easy.  If you don't think science has anything of value to offer, then you are free to never go to an MD again, never use antibiotics or analgesics, or x-rays, also never to use a computer again, never watch TV again; basically, go live in a cave. While I do believe attitude is important (and it has been shown to raise the immune response in scientific studies), I do not believe it is all-important.  I think you are insulting the millions who have died of cancer to suggest such a thing.

As far as Dr. Burzynski is concerned, I find two things most disturbing:  1) No other studies have been able to replicate his claims 2) He himself has not kept records of ALL of the patients he has treated and of the outcomes.  This means he has deprived himself of a great source of evidence of the effectiveness of his treatments, if indeed they are effective.  He seems to rely on just a few anecdotal cases.  People without an understanding of statistics or basic scientific methodology are easily sways by anecdotal evidence.  Everyone knows of someone who "miraculously" survived whatever.

Finally, yes there are many big egos in science, just as there are in every endeavor all the way down to elementary school sports.  Big egos have most definitely stood in the way of medical and scientific progress in the past.  This is no surprise.  Even among apes, the older males are the last to adopt new practices.  The fact that the scientific and medical establishments are "hostile" to Dr. Burzynski (which I do not think they are - I think they are hostile to poor science) and that the Feds have prosecuted him in no way gives him any legitimacy. One might feel sorry for him for really stepping in it out of ignorance (if that's what it was), but he gains no merit for it. 

Your presentation of statistics on cytotoxic chemo in adult malignancies is flawed, as some cancers respond very well, and others not at all, while the stage at which treatment is begun is significant in some and not in others.  Lumping them all together as evidence of ineffectiveness is ridiculous and meaningless.  Also, you presented a quotation, but no source.

Oh yes, let me not forget "spontaneous regression."  Every case of spontaneous regression brings a huge investigation attempting to find the causative factors.  This is because science is an attempt to understand the physical world we live in, not brush it off as "miracles" or "bad vibes."  I worked with someone who lost all the tissue over the fronts of her calf in a horrific car accident.  It's well known that skin grafted directly over bone cannot survive, but in an effort to prevent infection until something else could be devised, doctors went ahead and did such a graft.  Well, it took.  It became permanent, and the patient was then pestered day and night by doctors and researchers hoping to find out why.  It was not a miracle, it was the patient's own body responding to trauma in a way that science does not yet understand.  As long as people confuse such cases with mysticism, we will never really know what goes on.

I heartily recommend that you take a few basic science courses.  You could start with high school bio, chem and physics.  The more you learn the more you will understand how complicated all living organisms are and that there are no easy or simple answers.