Burzynski: The Movie **SKEPTIC ALERT**

I'm not sure if I expressed myself correctly - anyone would have to be a total idiot to get sucked in by that man or any promise of a miracle cure. At least traditional medicine doesn't make false promises.

I think my idea would be more successful!

It's so sad to see frightened people fleeced of their money and they end up dying anyway. If someone truly cared about saving people's lives they wouldn't rip them off to such an extent.

I don't think it's wrong for someone to research and explore other options but research has to be from credible sources. I just think it's sad that someone chooses alternative options that have no "real" studies/science to back it up such as Burzynki's claims. I would want to see actual clinical trials that are peer reviewed and published. I watched his documentary and then listened to what the other professionals had to say in response and there isn't anything credible about him and his medical practice.



And as far as all the conspiracy theories go that Big Pharma knows there's a cure and they're hiding it...I would suspect that if that's true, then the secret is hidden on a deserted island and the gatekeepers are Elvis, Tupac, princess Di and maybe even Michael Jackson. Ok... Sorry......that part was just a bit of humour so please...no one get your knickers in a knot.



This debate has been going on here at bc.org for sooooo long and I have yet to see anyone post a credible study proving these claims. So if I missed it and if there really is peer reviewed published studies, then can someone please post it. I love to read and I am a documentary junkie..lol



Cheers

Beth

Leia - if this bloke has saved lots of lives - where are those people? Why does he charge so much money? Why does he give chemo at all and the wrong one for the type of cancer? Why does he hide his assets etc?

My chemo/herceptin cost me nothing - not one cent - my health insurance coverted the lot and my oncologist only charged the scheduled fee so I wouldn't be out of pocket. I was admitted to a day hospital every time so that insurance would cover it all.

You have the right to your own opinions, but you keep writing about them and we keep arguing with you as is our right.

Thanks Pickles - you said it all. 

I have no problem if someone chooses a treatment different from what I've chosen, with the help of my oncologists.  If there is another treatment that is PROVEN to work, I'd love to see the scientific results of the clinical trials of that treatment.

"Both theories are valid."  I don't agree at all.  

There is something about testing that lends validity to modern controlled medicine.  Many natural remedies have been tested and incorporated in modern medicine.. consider aspirin which really is pretty darn natural.  .  Conventional (big industrial complex) medicine contains many treatments and approaches.. the 'alternative... not so many. 

Those that claim to be 'natural' usually fail the sniff test for whatever reason.. Perhaps the pusher just wants to sell without the blessing or validation of controlled testing.. I'd be quite wary.  There are plenty of alternative, natural and complimentary ways that are obviously helpful.. they usually aren't sold to exploit... they just are, even if the ingredients may be sold withing a capitalist framework.... for profit.

 peace and love, apple / Mary Magdalen (really)
Diagnosis: 4/10/2008, IDC, 5cm, Stage IV, Grade 3, 4/9 nodes, mets, ER+, HER2+

Leia, ideally, you don't want your D3 levels much above 80. Also, taking 10000 IU of D3 long term will raise your serum calcium too much. You need to temper this effect with foods high in vitamin K or take 90 to 150 mcg (that's micrograms, not milligrams) of K2. The K2 will keep the circulating calcium, which will elevate quite drastically when on such high doses of D3, from sticking to the walls of your arteries, a undesirable effect to say the least! In integrative medicine, 50 to 70ng/ml is considered a "sweet spot" for levels of D3 in people with a history of malignancy. If you have trouble getting your levels to stabilize, you can get a nicely balanced boost by simply getting good sun exposure which works much faster than taking supplements.

Also, using supplements as medicine, as I have done, is a tricky art form; I am my own experiment; I relied heavily on science and some sophisticated gene testing, among other types of tests and labs, which we have to concede, is a part of the medical industrial system, but not part of the mainstream medical model; I did my testing through different integrative and alternative practitioners. Be aware that some people have gene defects which affect the way their bodies use supplements, including D3; another example is how supplemental vitamin A can interfere with this pathway as well. It is all very complicated. A good resource is the Edge CAM at no surrender to breast cancer. He uses recommendations that are evidence based and his standard for inclusion into his CAM is very high.

But I fear, that in short order, much of the recommendations made on the Edge CAM will become unavailable. I'll tell you why. There is a movement afoot by the FDA to medicalize over the counter supplements. It is an insidious creep which will affect all of us--whether we are exclusively pro allopathic or pro alternative.

Now for a little contentiousness: As far as the FDA is concerned, well, I have developed a rather jaundiced view of their mission of late. I have relatives, that have gone through the revolving door from the FDA to high level jobs at Hoffman La Roche (it has since been merged). By their own admission, by their own body of work, by the end results of their careers, they had, as their primary goal not the science or the betterment of medicine, but the value of their stock, as their bottom line. They freely admitted this. The reasoning, and the rational was and is, "what is good for business, is good for medicine".

This is why there is a now a push to "medicalize" the US supplement industry by the FDA; they are medicalizing, if you will forgive the term, the supplement industry by dictum, not because the people have asked for it, or even needed it. The FDA, in a tacit nod to their Pharma partners, has recognized that curcumin, pomegranates, sulforaphanes, certain plant phytosterols, are great medicine. They want to tweak the molecules, to make them patentable as they did with estrogen (premarin) and progesterone (progestins), to make them profit makers. In taking them out of the public domain, they will be able to control their use and make what was once a nickle a day curcumin capsule, much more expensive, on the order of hundreds of times more expensive, and to their bottom line, much more valuable. In doing this, they will take curcumin, fever few, melatonin, anthocyanins, countless extracts, away from our access. Concentrated or what are considered therapeutic doses of supplements will not be readily available as they are today. Well, I take that back, you will be able to get them with a prescription, but they will not be the familiar molecules as we know them. They will be what is often called in pharmaceutical research, "altered and recombinant" versions of natural realm molecules.  Sometimes this is good, but not necessarily better, sometimes it is just plain bad medicine.  An interesting example is that of red rice yeast which was banned in the US because the patent holders of Mevacor argued in court that Mother Nature in producing Red Rice Yeast, a traditional medicine, was infringing on their patents. 

thenewme, fyi, the fact that Dr B own's his pharmacy is not as revealing as you might believe, or maybe it is; half of all the oncologists I consulted with owned their own dispensing pharmacies for the chemotherapy they prescribed. So, how do you feel about oncologists that also own their own pharmacies and dispensaries? Do you feel there is any inherent conflict of interest there as well?

Again, this has nothing to do with any opinions on Dr B, and I am not interested in arguing about the merits or demerits of his therapy, but in his case, he is the owner of his pharmacy because he developed the technique for producing his molecule and it is proprietary as is the equipment on which it is produced.

After reading the papers on the actual biochemistry of Dr B's molecules, I have to confess I have not grasped the pathways in which this works effectively as a stand alone therapy. I wonder if he is interested in using his molecules in conjunction with other chemotherapies because the combined effect may be positively enhanced. If this is the case, it would be interesting to vet this out.

Yes, no kidding!  And it really does make sense.... Wish I knew 1/2 as much as you do about the supplements I'm taking....I had heard curcumin is good, along with DimPlus, Grapefruit Extract, and a few others.... I think a lot of us just walk along after our cancer surgery, just hoping for the best, and trying to keep it from coming back.  Thanks for your article.

Interesting article on homeopathy/studies etc.



http://nccam.nih.gov/health/homeopathy/

ChevyBoy,

By grapefruit extract, do you mean pectin or pectasol?



Re your avatar: who dat big kitty? What a cutie!

MsBliss....I  saw that picture of that little fat-cat one time on the Internet, & saved it...Ha!  We have a little Sheltie...she is like one of my Daughter's...  And soooooo sweet!

I order most of my supplements from "Puritan's Pride."  The GRAPEFRUIT PECTIN is 1000 mg... and I take one a day.  Also Calcium, CoQ10, Sea Kelp, Vit.D-3.. Grape seed Extract...A Multi-vitamin, Turmeric, Glucosamine, Fish oilW/Omega 3.... Chaga &  Dim-plus!  Now if I would just TAKE these all the time, but days go by when I just don't.  There is a gal on these boards that helped me decide on what I could try..... I can't take Magnesium....skin rashes.

I haven't been to a nutritionist, but think I am pretty healthy... I even went through the change, I guess, but didn't know it.  No hot flashes....nothing!  My Daughter's are having a rough time now with it all.  

I had a Hysterectomy, but ovaries were left...THAT threw me into the WORST skin problems I had ever heard of.  So 6 months later, I went back on "the pill".... And took it until I was about 60, (I think.) 

Honestly, I don't feel one bit different when I don't take them!  But I'm thinking they are just supposed to be good for me... And since I quit Tamoxifen, I just thought I would try all the stuff I had heard about.  

Funny thing is, I always had Stasis Dermatitis on one of my legs, by my ankle.  For about 10 years or more, I tried EVERYthing!  So painful, and the itching was intense!    But then breast cancer and Tamoxifen for 14 months.... Quit that because I lost my hearing, BUT the skin problem went away!!!!!   It was like a miracle!  It was supposed to be a permanent condition with my skin.  But nope!   I think everything scared my skin so bad, what with the BC, radiation, and Tamoxifen, that the skin problems just cleared up! 

How do you gals get your Vit.D level checked?  I saw one place on-line, that charges you.  Do they all do that?  And is it that important?  Here in Colorado, we get a lot of sun, all year, so I try & get out there even in the Winter.    But I wear sun screen, or just not be out after mornings! 

My one Daughter & I have a lot of trouble with skin cancers.... I even had my car windows tinted, because of skin problems from the sun, and also allergic reactions, that ALWAYS showed up as blisters, hives, etc.  

Thanks for any answers....

Thanks rosemary.... I asked my PC to do the CA-15, and she ordered that along with the regular blood work....I will go back in September for my annual physical...and I will for sure ask her to order those results also, for the Vit-D level.

I don't go to an Oncologist any more.... She wasn't too concerned that I went deaf, by taking Tamoxifen, and she wanted me to try Femara, but I was just too afraid to try ANY of them.   But I DO get 6 month Mammograms still. 

Okay thanks,  Bliss!  I wrote that down..... I DO have a lot of aches, but I just attribute it to my age!  And I know I should be taking more Glucosamine.   But it seems like 2 Aleve work a lot better...

Sorry, didn't mean to get off track here...on the Burzynsky thread, but one thing just leads to another.

Another victim on the blog  today:

49

I am a recent former patient of Buryznski who was duped along with countless others.
I also got ripped off to the tune of $100K and counting.
I was told I was talking antineoplastons and went through the Caris bs too.I was given several non FDA approved drugs in combination and took chemo. Everyone there took chemo. I went in the first place to avoid chemo. Surprise. To say I am angry is putting in mildly. I am going to sue.
It is a travesty. I dont know how much of a quack he is  but I do believe he is a petty crook.

Thanks much for this informative article...it has given me more ammo to go after this jerk now that I know more.

I am also going to pubish a small blog telling of my experiences with him at word press as soon as I can make some time. It's called Burzynski Fraud.

Posted by: Mike  | December 12, 2011  4:00 PM