Cancer treatment quackery- please help

Neilk · 09-14-2011, 05:25 PM

Hi,

To make a long story short, my wife is facing her second recurrence with metastatic cancer. A friend of hers who I would love to get my hands on about now, told her about this great treatment in Germany where they "wash your blood" and it creates anti-bodies to fight cancer. Yeah right. Here is an excerpt from their website.

Quote:

Blood Wash

‘Blood Wash’ is the layman’s expression for a therapy that is otherwise known as
‘Major Autohemotherap’ in the English usage. Up to 200 ml of blood will be drawn in a
sterile plasma bottle and mixed with a carefully prescribed amount of an ozone-oxygenmixture.
The blood itself will be made incoaluable by means of heparine or sodium
citrate. The amount of this ozone-oxygen-mixture and its concentration for the ‘blood
wash’ is determined on a per patient basis according to the diagnosis of the patient’s
health. Usually low dosages are applied for circulatory disorders, medium dosages for
the immune stimulation and high dosages for rheumatism. A special version of this
‘Major Autohemotherapy’ is the hyperbaric ozone therapy which was developed by
Dr. med. H. Kief, a pioneer in the ozone industry. With this therapy, the blood is
absorbed via a machine with regulated vacuum, and then the ozone stream is inversed
with a slight pressure within the bottle, not within the body, and the patient's blood
becomes contaminated by the ozone-oxygen mixture through this process. Although
during this process larger amounts of this ozone mixture are used, the side effect rate
is slightly lower and the clinical success is higher. It is the only procedure in natural
medicine which thus far has proven metabolic effects on the fat and protein metabolism
within the organism and in some cases, full remission of severe chronic hepatitis has
been achieved. Through the stimulation of the oxidative processes within the organism,
the bodies own defenses are increased as well as the physical and mental
performance and a general regenerative process occurs. Interestingly, due to the
highly oxidative potential of the ozone during this procedure, a measurable and
reductive process is induced within the body and at the same time, there occurs a
measurable counter-regulation of the organism against released free radicals.
Moreover, the opportunity to see positive results from this reductive reaction can also
be used with possible malignant diseases, as the organism of the cancer patient
cannot counter-regulate however the ‘blood wash’ can also induce this process within
the body.

Have you ever heard of such BS? I understand she is terrified of doing chemo again and is grasping for any hope, but this is just snake oil. No peer reviewed studies, just an 8th grade level "Study" on their treatment, which I would be happy to forward to anyone, just PM me. Supposedly over 17,000 people have been helped by their treatment, but with only some testimonials, no peer reviewed studies, amateurish explanations of their treatment, I can only be lead to believe that it complete crap.

Besides telling her that I support her fight and want her to get better, do you guys have any tips on how to get past this? We are meeting with the US owner of the website, was supposedly cure of colon cancer with this treatment, tomorrow to discuss the treatment. I have my list of skeptical questions. Anyone have any other things I can ask the US owner to reveal their scam?

Cost is not really an object, but being swindled $15K and given false hope, I can't accept.

Thanks,
Neil

daepp · 09-14-2011, 05:32 PM

I am so sorry for your wife, for you and for your pain.

I have family who have been so thankful for MDAnderson. Have you been there?

Neilk · 09-14-2011, 05:38 PM

Thanks David. She's seeing one of top breast cancer oncologists in the nation who has been fantastic. She's on Erbitux and we are in a wait and see mode right now to see if perhaps things will stabilize again or grow. She's hoping that this treatment might boost her immune system to help fight the cancer, but I think blood letting might be as effective as blood washing.

azasadny · azasadny's Garage

Neil,
I'm so sorry for what you and your wife are going through. Unfortunately, there are and always have been people out there who will take advantage of people who are sick and sell them "snakeoil". It's sad, pathetic and makes me very angry...

syncroid · 09-14-2011, 05:46 PM

Neil, My thoughts and prayers go out to you for what you and your wife are going through. Hang in there!

dewolf · 09-14-2011, 05:50 PM

Bad news. Sorry to hear. Good luck and may your wife get well. Have a look at this:

Cancer is Fungus 1 of 2 - YouTube

dentist90 · dentist90's Garage

Neil, your situation truly sucks. Don't know how else to put it.

My assistant's son was diagnosed with a metastasis of ocular melanoma (he lost his eye when he was 12) a few years ago. The prognosis was grim and surgery and chemo were not good treatment alternatives. They too started looking for alternative therapies and were directed to one of those Mexican cancer 'clinics' which claimed stupidly ridiculous success rates (but were not very specific on which diseases). They didn't go but tried some other alternative therapy more locally. Nice, compassionate doctor. Cost them thousands and there was some initial improvement, but he succumbed to his cancer about two months after diagnosis. Very sad and I don't blame people for wanting to try something... anything... that might give them hope. It's natural, especially if you feel there's nothing to lose for trying. But I agree with you that this is hype at best, a swindle at worst. Anything with as good a track record as some of these 'alternative therapies' claim would most certainly have become m ore mainstream by now. The one thing these clinics all have in common is blaming mainstream medical science (conventional medicine) for not taking them seriously and dismissing their claims. Guess why.

I lost another acquaintence 2 years ago to skin melanoma as well. He had surgery but the lesion had already metastasized. He did go to a Mexican alternative cancer clinic. Didn't help him at all. I'll bet he isn't mentioned in their brochures. The treatments don't seem to have any rational basis in medicine or biology, there is no tracking of diagnoses and outcomes and most evidence seems to be anecdotal. Yes, I'm skeptical... to put it mildly. But it's hard to be coldly rational when your life is on the line.

Best of luck to you both.

pwd72s · 09-14-2011, 05:57 PM

We were warned of quackery by my long time family M.D. after Cindy's MS diagnosis. Yes, there are the unscrupulous who prey on the desperate.

My best wishes for you and your wife.

Heel n Toe · 09-14-2011, 05:59 PM

Neil, I heard this guy Leonard Coldwell on the radio this week, and was very impressed... so impressed, I would go with his methods over conventional medicine if I found out I had cancer.

I don't know of anyone who has followed his protocol, but I do know of people who have rejected the chemotherapy/radiation protocols their doctor/oncologist recommended and outlived the date they were supposed to die by many years with only sensible changes to their diet, etc.

Anyway, take a look at this article on his website and you and your wife make your decision and go from there. I wish you the best. I lost my first wife to ovarian cancer... six-year battle.

Only Answer to Cancer : Dr. Leonard Coldwell

artplumber · 06:05 PM

Neil sorry to hear this. Unfortunately, once someone gets this stuff into their head they generally cant/won't let go (see statin thread). Is your wife someone who really adheres to scientific principles? Perhaps you can appeal to that side of the discussion. Otherwise, make sure your provider knows that she is thinking about said treatment. There might even be a failure that can be directly referenced for her.

Ask the website owner what stage their cancer was and what the cure rate is with no treatment whether they had something like a polyp removal as well.as this magical therapy.

daepp · 09-14-2011, 06:06 PM

It's not clear to me whether you have been to MDAnderson yet. One thing there is for sure - there is no quackery or fraud.

I have not personally been through this, but my So Cal BIL sent his son there and was so impressed.

God bless you, your wife and your family.

sjf911 · sjf911's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heel n Toe

Neil, I heard this guy Leonard Coldwell on the radio this week, and was very impressed... so impressed, I would go with his methods over conventional medicine if I found out I had cancer.

I don't know of anyone who has followed his protocol, but I do know of people who have rejected the chemotherapy/radiation protocols their doctor/oncologist recommended and outlived the date they were supposed to die by many years with only sensible changes to their diet, etc.

Anyway, take a look at this article on his website and you and your wife make your decision and go from there. I wish you the best. I lost my first wife to ovarian cancer... six-year battle.

Only Answer to Cancer : Dr. Leonard Coldwell

Sorry, but that is quakery equal to or exceeding the blood wash.

Vitamin B17=Laetrile

"Sun does not cause cancer!"

Unbelievable.

"Medical Fact is that cancer cannot grow in and oxygen rich alkaline environment therefore I would always make sure that my body is slightly alkaline with a pH of 7.36."

This is an outright lie on top of which, a pH of 7.36 is normal if not slightly acidic for the body (blood).

"But I also know that the main cause of Cancer is mental and emotional stress."

BS, cancer is a genetic disease with many causes including a potential role for lipid peroxidation which is caused by free radical injury of which hydrogen peroxide (which he is recommending) is a source and can be lethal.

These people are preying on the desperate. Notice the emphasis on personal testimonials with no references to double blinded, randomized control trials? Your best bet is with the best physicians/oncologists in large tertiary referral/specialty centers.

artplumber · 06:34 PM

BTW ozone is bad for us - generates free radicals and these can theoretically have multiple negative effects on protein integrity dna and rna breaks etc.
Can you say shades of Michael Jackson and the hyperbaric chamber.

PS MD Anderson cancer center is the best in the country. That's not just because I did some training there.

andrew15 · 09-14-2011, 08:55 PM

Wierd things happen when you get cancer - everyone seems to want to help and it usually produces a vast arrary of dubious advice and articles from friends and acquantinces.

The oncologist I had said it best - "If all that stuff worked, we would be using it."

Good luck
AM

Dottore · 09-14-2011, 09:43 PM

Neil, I am very sorry to hear about your wife.

I have not heard of the German treatment. I am traveling until tomorrow, but will make some inquiries when I get back. (just saw your PM)

livi · 09-14-2011, 09:54 PM

Sorry to hear about this kind of treatments. Again and again. I am limited to the classical scientific schooling of medicine and hence not impressed by such claims what so ever. Some treatments sound plausible on a theoretical basis even though there are no evidence to back them up. This, I am afraid, does not even sound credible as a hypothesis.

Best wishes to you and your wife!