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Nutritional Cancer Therapy of Max Gerson, M.D. |
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Cancer Therapy |
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The
Gerson Therapy,
by Charlotte Gerson and Morton Walker, DPM (2001) It has been said that more people live off cancer than die
from it. The
Gerson Therapy is a book that can put a stop to this travesty. Here is a
very practical, highly detailed guide to the intensive nutritional treatment
of cancer and other life-threatening diseases that many would consider to
have been impossible to obtain. But thanks to the work of Max Gerson,
M.D., and his daughter, author Charlotte Gerson,
this knowledge is readily available for all who need it. Max Gerson cured
cancer. He did so with a strict fat-free, salt-free, low-protein,
essentially vegetarian dietary regimen, based on great quantities of fresh
vegetable juice, supplements, and systemic detoxification. Ms. Gerson
explains: “Dr. Gerson
found that the underlying problems of all cancer patients are toxicity and
deficiency. He had to overcome both these difficulties. He found that one of
the important features of his therapy had to be the hourly administration of
fresh vegetable juices. These supply ample nutrients, as well as fluids to
help flush out the kidneys. When the high levels of nutrients re-enter
tissues, toxins accumulated over many years are forced into the blood stream.
The toxins are then filtered out by the liver. The liver is easily
overburdened by the continuous release of toxins and is unable to release the
load.” Dr. Gerson found that he could provide help to the liver by the
caffeine in coffee, absorbed from the colon via the hemorrhoidal vein, which
carries the caffeine to the portal system and then to the liver. The caffeine
stimulates the liver/bile ducts to open, releasing the poisons into the
intestinal tract for excretion.” The Gerson Therapy book consists of nearly 400 pages
of treatment specifics, instruction, hints, cautions, recipes, case
histories, and references, all held together with an authority that only
experience can bring. Some of the blunt, uncompromising statements Ms. Gerson
makes are certain to get up the medical profession’s collective
nose. Too bad for them, for she is right. Charlotte Gerson’s
entire life has been immersed in healing people, first learning while
assisting her father, and later teaching his method to the world.
Co-author Dr. Morton Walker is one of my favorite medical writers, and
putting these two talents together in The Gerson Therapy was a master
stroke. I personally have seen
what the Gerson program can do for a terminally ill cancer patient. I have
been called upon to help in a couple of high-profile but last minute
cases. One patient was a well-known sports figure. He was given
some months to live and was not happy about it, as he was still in his 50s. He
asked what his best shot would be for inoperable, untreatable metastasized
cancer. I told him: the Gerson therapy. He did it, not in its entirety, but
with enthusiasm. And, he lived considerably longer that he was expected
to. But what really impressed me was the dramatic improvement in his
energy level. From fatigue and weakness, he went instantly to a vibrant
life, commencing from the very week he started the program. He
maintained a more-than-full schedule for so long that even people who knew he
was sick forgot that he was sick.
Years later, people that
never knew of my involvement in the matter would bring up his name,
invariably recalling how active he was and how good he looked until, almost
as a surprise, he died. I saw a similar level of
success with a prominent Looking only at these two
patients, wanton critics of Gerson’s method might think that, without
complete and unequivocal cure, there is little to crow about. Such a view
is unproductive, for neither of these patients followed the Gerson program
completely. It is a tough sell, even to a person with a terminal
diagnosis. Why is this? Ignorance and arrogance
make a bad combination, and “modern” medicine has been guilty of
both for decades. Political physicians did not heed Dr. Gerson. In fact,
they publicly condemned him. The news media have been their willing
accomplices. The misinformation they spew to this day is fraught with
fabricated frights of natural therapies, while in the same breath they spew
forth the wonders of pharmaceutical drugs. When is the last time you saw a
favorable mention of the Gerson program in the newspaper or on TV? Since
pharmacological doctors have no sure-fire cure for cancer (an understatement
if there ever was one), they might at least back a winning horse. The Gerson
approach has been shown, for over six decades, to significantly improve both
quality of life and length of life in the sickest, the most hopeless, of
cancer patients. Many people have been completely cured on the Gerson
therapy. And the directions are in
this book, which costs about $17. I am especially pleased
with the open-minded spirit of cooperation which I detect in reading The
Gerson Therapy. The authors’ awareness of the realities of
individual patient needs is well demonstrated with the inclusion of
chapter sections discussing unavoidable modifications of the program.
Instructions for home self-care, for patients undergoing chemotherapy, and
for the treatment of very advanced cases, are all provided. Chapter 17,
discussing treatment of illnesses other than cancer, needs to be greatly
expanded. Ms. Gerson informs me that she is currently “preparing
a booklet for each disease (including, among others) asthma, rheumatoid
arthritis and lupus, diabetes, drug addiction, Crohn's disease, and
fibromyalgia. They will start with a general description of the disease, then
have a basic outline of how the Gerson therapy deals with it, then the
specific description of the Therapy, followed by some dozen of recovered
cases... I think each booklet will contain some 30-40 pages.”
I am looking forward to their early publication. (Update, 2002: Individual
booklets about cancer of the breast, ovaries, liver/pancreas/colon, lymphoma
and melanoma are now available for purchase from Charlotte Gerson, 355
Greenwood Place, Bonita, CA 91902. www.gerson.org
The present book contains explicit instructions for the administration of the
Therapy’s controversial but nonetheless crucial liver-detoxifying
coffee enemas. (Yes, at body temperature.) The use of castor oil, a thorough
listing of which foods to eat (and not eat), how to juice, psychological
aspects of therapy, and generally favorable mentions of megadose vitamin C
supplementation are also presented. The concise chapter (Chapter 6) on
melanoma is extraordinary, easily the best I have read anywhere. Dosage and rationale for the
supplements Dr. Gerson prescribed is the focus of Chapter 11. Potassium,
iodine, digestive enzymes, niacin and (by prescription) thyroid, liver
extract and vitamin B-12 injections are all covered. Both this
chapter, and the “Resources” section of the Appendix, are
free of any attempt to market such products, a feature I wish to highlight
for special praise. I liked the inclusion of
references at the end of each chapter, and the thoroughness of devoting a
chapter to appropriate laboratory tests. And everyone will enjoy reading the
success stories in Chapter 21. In the next edition of The
Gerson Therapy, I would like to see detailed charts that summarize
exactly what a “Gerson Person” needs to do each day. I
recall how helpful such charts were in this book’s predecessor, A
Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases. My experience in working with
very sick patients and their families is that they are easily overwhelmed
with instruction, no matter how vital that instruction may
be. Easy-to-read personal itineraries are virtually essential to ensure
intelligent compliance with a complex nutritional program. To some extent,
this need is met by way of a helpful Summary in the Appendix. However, such
information can be presented in greater detail and in a more user-friendly
manner, by employing graphics to full advantage. Some years ago I watched
a video tape of a Gerson patients’ “reunion.” On
stage were people from all walks of life, and most were advanced in
age. One after the other they
spoke of the cancer they were diagnosed with three, ten, or twenty years ago.
All were recovered. Dr. Gerson was the reason. You cannot watch
such an event and fail to be moved. A special benefit of The
Gerson Therapy is that it is not specifically a cancer treatment. Dr.
Gerson saw it as a metabolic treatment, one that cleanses the human organism
while strengthening the body’s ability to heal itself. Not
surprisingly, therefore, the Gerson therapy is effective against all manner
of diseases, some 50 of which are listed on page 21. I am even more interested
in the preventive aspects of the Gerson diet. As I write this, I have a cool
quart and a half of carrot juice in my tummy. I do not particularly enjoy
carrot juice, but I do want to prevent illness. Only time will tell for me personally,
but I am going to take a Pascal-like viewpoint: there is no down side to
juiced vegetables. Well, maybe one: some
people don’t wish to change their diet and lifestyle. Jack Benny, when
asked “Your money or your life!” made radio comedy history with
his delayed answer, “I’m thinking!” To a profoundly sick
person, the question might be rephrased, “The Gerson Therapy or your
life.” Too many persons have died thinking. Don’t be one of
them. "I see in Dr. Max
Gerson one of the most eminent geniuses in medical history." (Dr. Albert Schweitzer) To learn more about
how to do the Gerson Therapy: You may watch, free of charge, the cancer treatment
documentary Dying to Have Known (2006) at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7357629140536485998
(DoctorYourself’s Andrew Saul
is onscreen between minutes 46 and 50.) Another documentary on the Gerson therapy is available,
free of charge, for viewing at http://www.gersonmiracle.org/movie.html
http://www.doctoryourself.com/gersonspeech.html
is the transcript of a speech by Dr. Gerson himself. http://www.doctoryourself.com/bib_gerson_therapy.html
is a bibliography of published clinical studies showing the demonstrated
benefits of the Gerson treatment http://www.doctoryourself.com/bib_gerson.html
is a bibliography of all of Dr. Gerson’s scientific writings. Review copyright C 2001 by Andrew W. Saul.
Andrew Saul is the author of the books FIRE
YOUR DOCTOR! How to be Independently Healthy (reader reviews at
http://www.doctoryourself.com/review.html
) and DOCTOR YOURSELF: Natural Healing that Works. (reviewed at http://www.doctoryourself.com/saulbooks.html
) For ordering information, Click Here .
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AN IMPORTANT NOTE: This page is not in any way offered as prescription, diagnosis nor treatment for any disease, illness, infirmity or physical condition. Any form of self-treatment or alternative health program necessarily must involve an individual's acceptance of some risk, and no one should assume otherwise. Persons needing medical care should obtain it from a physician. Consult your doctor before making any health decision. Neither the author nor the webmaster has authorized the use of their names or the use of any material contained within in connection with the sale, promotion or advertising of any product or apparatus. Single-copy reproduction for individual, non-commercial use is permitted providing no alterations of content are made, and credit is given. |
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