Perhaps the most amazing phenomenon in today’s Information Age is the explosion of confusion that has come with all the “information”. People are more confused about even basic issues, and the loudest voices are often the least accurate. We are inundated with as much “fake news” as real news, and today many basic facts are being contradicted by opposing “facts”. Who and what do we believe?
“Follow the money” is a Wall Street saying that applies particularly to this age of huge news companies, social media “bots”, community organized campaigns and protests, and what is called “Big Pharma”. Drug companies have a huge financial incentive to sell you their products. That can corrupt some doctors and medical teaching programs, which has led to a prescription drug dependence in our affluent society, and prescription of more drugs to counteract the side effects of those initial drugs.
Here’s a riddle: what do you get when you combine politics and science? Answer: politics. The idea is similar when combining money and science. Studies are costly, and may be funded by institutions or companies with a vested interest in the outcome. While scientific studies have procedures in place meant to blunt these impacts, a simple shift in the terminology used to launch the study can alter the results. Consider this statement from an article published in the British Medical Journal: “…only a third of cancer drugs entering the market in Europe and the US have evidence of overall benefits in survival or quality of life.” The article explains how this is possible: the standard now is “disease progression or tumor shrinkage” to determine if a drug is effective. That is a major difference!
Cancer progression and tumor size
Drugs are generally toxic for the body, and most chemotherapy drugs are massively toxic — so toxic that sometimes they are the final cause of death in cancer patients. When these toxins hit the cancer tumor, cancer cells sicken and die, as well as other healthy body cells. Tumors usually do shrink when hit by these toxins, and the cancer appears halted or reversed. But wait! The cancer fights back in the same ways that bacteria fight back against antibiotics, and we find ourselves inundated by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Cancer learns and adapts, and when challenged, that process kicks into high gear.
In such cases, did the cancer drug slow disease progression and cause tumor shrinkage? Yes, it did. The standard was technically met, and the drug is considered a valuable treatment of cancer. But did it actually cure the patient of cancer, so that it did not just come back in a form that ignores the next round of chemotherapy? Not nearly as often as you might think.
As published in Clinical Oncology, the Royal College of Radiologists reviewed randomized clinical trials to determine the 5-year survival rate improvements that were solely due to cytotoxic chemotherapy, and found only a slightly over 2% improvement due to these toxic treatments for most types of cancers. Another article in the BMJ states that 48 new chemotherapy treatments provided a median 1.2 months additional survival time.
Getting you on a chemotherapy regimen is not difficult if you expect that the therapy will make a big difference in your outcome, even if it means suffering the effects of the toxins. But if you expect almost no improvement in outcome for your efforts, might you think twice? Since Pharma can’t change the reality, they change the measurement terminology to make you think the drugs are major life-savers.
Your plan of action
With loud voices telling you what you should do, wisdom is crucial! You are responsible for your own actions; not your doctor, not your medical insurance, and certainly not the pharmaceutical industry. Are you looking at various research when deciding your path? Are you looking at the motives behind the information you find? Does the information make sense and does other non-related information confirm it?
If you have cancer, your situation is unique — no two cancers, just like no two people, are exactly alike. Since you are reading this newsletter, it is likely you are interested in digging deeper and determining your best, most reasonable course of action. Since you now know that chemotherapy may not be the wonder cure that it is hyped to be, let’s consider some other possibilities.
Why don’t chemotherapies yield better results?
At the same time that chemotherapy is killing cancer cells, it is damaging the immune system which is necessary to eradicate cancer. While chemotherapy makes the cancer (and you) sick, it also is incentivizing the cancer to adapt to the toxic environment to overcome it. While chemotherapy reduces the tumor mass, it is making remaining otherwise healthy very difficult: some patients die of “complications” such as an infection that they should have been able to fight off easily. No wonder the survival rate with chemotherapy is poor.
According to the studies, chemotherapy gives little improvement in life expectancy or quality of life. It is doing almost as much harm as good. What if we can mitigate the harm? The statistics for chemotherapy might be somewhat better in that case. If chemotherapy appears to be your best chance to reduce the “cancer load” to a manageable level, why not then detoxify your body, strengthen it, mitigate the harsh effects as much as possible, and let your immune system do its job to finish the cancer? Would you have a lesser chance of the cancer learning how to resist the chemotherapy if the drug period were shortened, instead of a longer regime to get rid of all the cancer (which it can’t do)? Could you remain relatively strong and healthy during the chemotherapy by doing those things that most promote good health? Perhaps we can tilt the balance in your favor.
Or, since we know cancer is at a disadvantage in a healthy body, consider treatments that promote health and the immune system so that cancer could be halted potentially without chemotherapy. Sometimes chemotherapy is recommended as “insurance” to keep cancer from coming back, when that approach does not deal with the cancer stem cell. Getting healthy could be just what you need to keep the cancer at bay, not getting sick from drugs.
These are possibilities to ponder. An informed decision means considering all the alternatives and deciding for yourself. If any time is the right time to make a measured, careful, and informed decision, certainly a cancer diagnosis is such a time. What is best for you?
Dr. Nemec’s Comments:
Here is the testimony of one of our patients that is on our treatment and teaching program and healed his stage 3 brain cancer:
I started on the Total Health Institute program six months ago. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor, an anaplastic astrocytoma grade three brain tumor that I had surgically removed, and the doctor told me that I should do the chemo and radiation even though it wouldn’t do much. It might give me an extra six months of life, but I would have to be doing the chemo and the radiation throughout the whole thing. So for quality of the life reasons I declined and contacted Total Health Institute and started their treatment and teaching program. When I first started. I was very weak mostly from surgery. I lost some weight detoxing everything out of my system but now am back to my original weight and getting stronger, more energy and feeling good. About two and a half months ago I had another brain scan and the results were no new growth. Of course, they still pushed for the chemo and the radiation but I saw it as a sign that what I am doing at Total Health Institute is working and I’m just going to stay the course because I’m doing well. I think the physical benefits of all that I do at Total Health Institute are great, but the spiritual benefits have been really what’s helped me the most. That’s why I’m here. The diet, lifestyle and physical treatments are very important to follow. But I needed to come to heal my body, mind and spirit. That has been my greatest benefit since coming to Total Health Institute.
So the study published in British Medical Journal showed chemotherapy five year survival rates in adults with solid cancers from Australian and US randomized trials. In 90% of patients—including those with the most common tumors of the lung, prostate, colorectum, and breast—drug therapy increased five year survival by less than 2.5%—an overall survival benefit of around three months. Similarly, 14 new drug regimens for adult solid cancers approved by the European Medicines Agency provided a median 1.2 months overall survival benefit. Newer drugs did no better: 48 new regimens approved by the US Food and Drug Administration had an average 2.1 month overall survival benefit. These are the facts to understand.
The important things to remember when you have cancer:
- Outpatient Comprehensive Teaching and Treatment Program-has the most benefit of teaching, treatment, live classes and personalized coaching. This program has the most contact with Dr. Nemec with 3- 6 month programs that can be turned into a regular checking and support program for life. This is our core program that has helped so many restore their health and maintain that restoration for years.
- Inpatient Comprehensive Teaching and Treatment Program-is our four-week intensive inpatient program for those that are not in driving distance, usually over 4 hour drive. This is the program that is an intensive jumpstart with treatment, teaching, live classes and coaching designed for all our international patients along with those in the US that do not live in Illinois. This program is very effective especially when combined with our new membership program support.
- Stay at Home Program-is offered to continental US patients who cannot come to Total Health Institute but still want a more personal, customized plan to restore their health. This program also includes our Learn Membership Program.
- Membership Program is our newest program offered for those that want to work on their health at a high level and want access to the teaching at Total Health Institute along with the Forums: both Dr. Nemec’s posts and other members posting. And also, to have the chance to get personalized questions answered on the conference calls which are all archived in case you miss the call. The Membership Program has 3 levels to choose from: Learn, Overcome and Master. The difference is at the Overcome and Master levels you received one on one calls with Dr. Nemec personalizing your program for your areas of focus.
