I just wanted to share this. My bf has a friend currently undergoing her third round of chemotherapy. Today someone told her she was stupid for poisoning herself with chemo when she should be treating it holistically. Another woman commented to her and said someone told her to treat her son’s cancer with papaya instead of chemo.

Oh, this makes me so very angry. Such a rant I went on. Where the hell do random, uneducated people get off even saying ANYTHING about someone’s established healthcare plan made with actual doctors?

Of course, I may be hypocritical here, since if someone told me they were treating their child’s cancer with papaya, I would also go on a rant.

C

It’s hard not to get angry when such rank nonsense is suggested as an alternative to real therapy. This is one of the ways supposedly “harmless” woo-woo therapy really hurts people; by filling them with fear of real medicine. Rants may not accomplish much, but I think it’s important for people who see through this kind of nonsense to speak up, so that those on the fence understand there is more than one perspective. It seems to have become almost taboo, a sign of bad manners to criticize medical woo, though slandering real medicine is still the accepted stock-in-trade for alt med promoters.

Yep. I believe actually Steve Jobs of Apple went through several months or even years of trying such quackery before finally having the extensive operations that lengthened his life. Makes you wonder how much better he might be if he’d had the operations earlier ...

Steve Jobs did that? Unbelievable.

George - 17 February 2011 10:36 AM

Steve Jobs did that? Unbelievable.

Yep, unfortunately.

Papaya? Everyone knows cucumber cures cancer. Or was that hemorrhoids?

ExMachina - 17 February 2011 10:15 PM

Papaya? Everyone knows cucumber cures cancer. Or was that hemorrhoids?

It depends. Are you eating the cucumber, or applying it directly to the hemorrhoids?

Hey my gf’s uncle went the holistic route to treat his cancer.  He used his homeopathy, herbal remedies, and whatnot faithfully and as directed.  And he of course didn’t get all sick from icky, evil radiation and chemo.  Of course, he died in six months, but you know.  The hippie treatments worked!

Dead Monky - 18 February 2011 06:28 PM

Hey my gf’s uncle went the holistic route to treat his cancer.  He used his homeopathy, herbal remedies, and whatnot faithfully and as directed.  And he of course didn’t get all sick from icky, evil radiation and chemo.  Of course, he died in six months, but you know.  The hippie treatments worked!

Obviously he didn’t believe enough in them, because you have to trust in papaya for papaya to work.

C

I’m sure the holistic practicianer would say, “He lived six months.  Had he used the chemotherapy he’d have died in a month.  The papaya worked.” 

Occam