So I'm watching the 6 hour Ken Burns/PBS, "Cancer: Emperor of all Maladies" and I'm bashing my head against the wall, it's so frustrating to watch.
They interview like 6 Nobel prize winners for cancer research in the documentary, and every time they understand something new about cancer, immediately they discuss working on a "new chemotherapy treatment".
--> **Food quality, air quality, water quality, lifestyle choices, are not discussed in this 6 hour documentary on cancer** <-- I kid you not.
Dr. Sidney Farber found a chemical in the 1940's that helped leukemia kids survive for a couple months longer. People were amazed, a new children's hospital was built, and innumerable chemicals started getting tested on kids, giving us chemotherapy today.
In the 1960's there were 3 schools of thought on the cause of cancer: viruses (e.g. Epstein-Barr), chemicals from the environment, and genes. All have validity.
Eventually they figure out that every cell in the body is capable of mutating into cancer given the right circumstances. In 1971, Nixon announces during the State of the Union address a "war on cancer". Billions of dollars are dedicated to it in the coming years and everyone thinks progress is being made. A statistician comes around in the 1980's and shows, much to everyone's chagrin, that in fact, no, were are not making much progress on cancer.
The first episode describes how the tobacco industry "brilliantly" clouded the issue on cigarette safety 50 years ago...and then this documentary proceeds to do *the exact same thing*.
They say we have no idea what causes cancer: "It's very complicated", "We can't pin anything down". The epidemiologist interviewed about Love Canal, NY couldn't produce any link between the 20,000 barrels of toxic waste in the ground and cancer. Seriously?
Its mind numbing. They identified "chemicals" as a possible cause in the 60's, but there is no follow up. Where is the section identifying carcinogens that cause normal cells to mutate into cancerous ones? Where is the section on clean food (with natural antimutagens) *preventing* cells from mutating?
Not one diet recommendation: "Steer clear of sugar, avoid trans fats, careful with mercury in tuna, watch your red meat intake" -nothing. Its like the entire industry is in denial on food. I would love to know exactly when these doctors stopped believing "we are what we eat".
The medical establishment's approach to and treatment of cancer is completely wrong. Instead of working on prevention through cleaner food and a cleaner environment and researching treatments that compliment the body (primarily diet and lifestyle), they run around like chickens with their heads cut off for the last 40 years looking for crazy chemical drugs to give us.
A big disservice of a documentary. Keeping people in the dark on what causes cancer and then promoting chemotherapy as the best way to develop treatments? Terrible.
A sad chapter in American history. An unconscionable waste of time, money, and effort spent going down the wrong road.
They interview like 6 Nobel prize winners for cancer research in the documentary, and every time they understand something new about cancer, immediately they discuss working on a "new chemotherapy treatment".
--> **Food quality, air quality, water quality, lifestyle choices, are not discussed in this 6 hour documentary on cancer** <-- I kid you not.
Dr. Sidney Farber found a chemical in the 1940's that helped leukemia kids survive for a couple months longer. People were amazed, a new children's hospital was built, and innumerable chemicals started getting tested on kids, giving us chemotherapy today.
In the 1960's there were 3 schools of thought on the cause of cancer: viruses (e.g. Epstein-Barr), chemicals from the environment, and genes. All have validity.
Eventually they figure out that every cell in the body is capable of mutating into cancer given the right circumstances. In 1971, Nixon announces during the State of the Union address a "war on cancer". Billions of dollars are dedicated to it in the coming years and everyone thinks progress is being made. A statistician comes around in the 1980's and shows, much to everyone's chagrin, that in fact, no, were are not making much progress on cancer.
The first episode describes how the tobacco industry "brilliantly" clouded the issue on cigarette safety 50 years ago...and then this documentary proceeds to do *the exact same thing*.
They say we have no idea what causes cancer: "It's very complicated", "We can't pin anything down". The epidemiologist interviewed about Love Canal, NY couldn't produce any link between the 20,000 barrels of toxic waste in the ground and cancer. Seriously?
Its mind numbing. They identified "chemicals" as a possible cause in the 60's, but there is no follow up. Where is the section identifying carcinogens that cause normal cells to mutate into cancerous ones? Where is the section on clean food (with natural antimutagens) *preventing* cells from mutating?
Not one diet recommendation: "Steer clear of sugar, avoid trans fats, careful with mercury in tuna, watch your red meat intake" -nothing. Its like the entire industry is in denial on food. I would love to know exactly when these doctors stopped believing "we are what we eat".
The medical establishment's approach to and treatment of cancer is completely wrong. Instead of working on prevention through cleaner food and a cleaner environment and researching treatments that compliment the body (primarily diet and lifestyle), they run around like chickens with their heads cut off for the last 40 years looking for crazy chemical drugs to give us.
A big disservice of a documentary. Keeping people in the dark on what causes cancer and then promoting chemotherapy as the best way to develop treatments? Terrible.
A sad chapter in American history. An unconscionable waste of time, money, and effort spent going down the wrong road.