Got cancer? Turn your back on science and increase your risk of death by up to 470%
Alternative medicines do not cure, as a recent scientific study proves. Yale neurologist Skyler Johnson named a few of these so-called ‘alternative medicines’: plants, vitamins, minerals, probiotics, Ayurvedic medicine, homeopathy, naturopathy, traditional Chinese medicine, deep breathing, chiropractic, yoga, tai-chi, chi kung, acupuncture, osteopathy, meditation, massages, prayers, special diets, progressive relaxation therapies or guided imagery… none of the above have actually been demonstrated to be efficient, however, a good number of cancer patients commend themselves to them.
Johnson and his team have compared 281 cases of cancer patients who opted for a pseudo treatment to those of 560 patients who did entrust themselves in ‘real’ medicine: chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and hormone therapy. The results of the study are shocking: women with breast cancer treated under alternative medicines increased their risk of death by a whopping 470%, and colorectal cancer patients had 360% more chances to die. The percentage of death risk for lung cancer patients, in general with a worse outlook, grows to 150%
‘A cancer diagnosis changes your life. Unfortunately, there is a great lack of information about cancer and its clinically proven therapies. It is very important that oncologists spend time to talk to their patients about their personal beliefs,’ says Johnson, ‘and those patients who show interest in alternative medicines should be warned about the risk of death linked to that decision,’ explains the oncologist.
Johnson’s study is unusual due to the difficulty in accessing reliable data and the reticence of patients to admit their faith in pseudo-medicine. Yale scientists tried to overcome those hurdles by wading through the National Cancer Database, identifying 281 cases of pseudo-therapies between 2004 and 2013. To compare these cases, researchers then looked for two patients using authentic medicine per each patient using alternative medicines. Such patients needed to have similar age, type of cancer, phase of cancer, health status prior to the illness, and medical insurance.
The differences found among those patients could be even larger, according to Johnson. That study, published by the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, closely follows up on all cases. ‘Most of the cancer patients in our study were breast cancer and prostate cancer patients, who could naturally have a long medical history before the illness shows up, gets worse and finally causes the patient to die,’ explains Johnson.
Furthermore, there are other confounding factors to take on board. People choosing pseudo-medicines are usually wealthier and, surprisingly, with a greater educational level, which usually means a higher survival rate. Likewise, the database used classifies patients in their first phase of their treatment, but Johnson’s experience shows that numerous patients turn to real medicine after verifying the failure of pseudo-therapies.
This is why it is so important ‘to choose as soon as possible the conventional treatment in curable cancers,’ explains Johnson. Epidemiologist Esteve Fernández, former president of the Spanish Society of Epidemiology, welcomes Johnson’s study: “it is great research, published in a first-class scientific magazine, clearly demonstrating that alternative medicines do not work.”
