Clipping Board » Medical Myths ─ The truth about healthcare is often different from what you intuitively think.
【Text and photos excerpted from "Diet for a Dangerous Time" by John Robbins, published by Persimmon Culture】
Although chemotherapy is an extremely painful process, many children and adolescents with certain types of cancer—most commonly acute lymphoblastic leukemia and Hodgkin’s disease—have experienced remission. Several previously incurable childhood cancers can now be treated successfully.
However, regrettably, even many years later, only a few types of cancer can be successfully cured. Fundraising campaigns for cancer research continue to claim that we are "on the verge of a breakthrough," yet millions of cancer patients and their families have yet to see the benefits of this so-called breakthrough. The long-awaited major advancements in the war against cancer are always "just around the corner," but they never materialize.
Chemotherapy Saves Only 2–3% of Cancer Patients
Despite various treatments, the actual improvement in survival rates for most cancers remains very limited. One stark reality is that the outcomes of chemotherapy for most cancer patients are deeply disappointing. To kill all cancer cells in the human body, the required dose of chemotherapy would inevitably be toxic to the body—an unavoidable fact researchers must confront.
Over time, scientific journals have delivered one piece of bad news after another. In 1985, Dr. John Cairns, a professor at Harvard University’s School of Public Health, published a feature report in *Scientific American* on the war against cancer, stating that chemotherapy could only save 2 to 3% of cancer patients. Cairns noted that despite the medical community’s significant investment in chemotherapy research, this treatment could not cure any common cancer. The painful contrast between the initial high hopes for chemotherapy and the grim reality has become increasingly impossible to ignore.
Moreover, cancer deaths have been steadily rising. By the mid-1990s, the annual number of cancer deaths in the U.S. had exceeded 500,000. Even after adjusting for population growth and aging, cancer mortality rates continued to climb sharply. Most breakthroughs in chemotherapy were in treating childhood cancers. Yet by 1997, cancer had become the leading cause of disease-related death among children in the U.S. With cancer incidence rates rising and treatment progress lagging, prevention has become an urgent priority.
A Plant-Based Diet Can Prevent 60–70% of Cancers
In 1997, the American Institute for Cancer Research and its international affiliate, the World Cancer Research Fund, jointly published a groundbreaking multinational study, *Food, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective*. The report analyzed over 4,500 research studies and involved more than 120 contributors and peer reviewers, including researchers from the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the American Institute for Cancer Research. After its release, scientists worldwide responded enthusiastically, contributing to a new foundation for cancer prevention research and education.
The report concluded that by maintaining regular exercise, avoiding smoking, and—most importantly—following its primary dietary recommendation—"a diet centered on plant-based foods, rich in a variety of vegetables, fruits, and legumes, and low in processed starches"—60 to 70% of cancers could be prevented.This study was conducted by a panel of 15 top global experts in nutrition and cancer research, who reviewed over 200 controlled trials exploring the link between fruits and vegetables and cancer. Surprisingly, 78% of these trials showed that fruits and vegetables could prevent one or more types of cancer, while only 22% found no significant association. None of the trials indicated that consuming fruits and vegetables increased cancer risk.
T. Colin Campbell, former senior science advisor at the American Institute for Cancer Research and author of the bestselling book *The China Study*, directly linked diet to disease, stating, "Simply by adopting a plant-based diet, most cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and other degenerative diseases can be prevented." Vegetarians naturally consume more fruits and vegetables than meat-eaters and, as a result, tend to live longer. Even after controlling for factors like smoking, body mass index, and socioeconomic status, vegetarians still have a 25 to 50% lower risk of cancer compared to the general population.
Recognizing this, the American Cancer Society issued guidelines in 1996 urging people to reduce meat consumption to lower cancer rates. The American Meat Institute responded by saying, "These guidelines have gone too far, trying to dictate our food choices."
But no one was suggesting dictating food choices—the American Cancer Society was simply informing the public on how to reduce cancer risk. Facts are facts. Years later, *The British Medical Journal* reaffirmed: "A notable finding in research on diet and cancer is the growing recognition of certain foods' importance in reducing the risk of various cancers. If more people adopted a low-meat, high-fruit-and-vegetable diet, millions of cancer cases could be prevented annually."
Source: http:/ / mag. udn. com/ mag/ life/ ……_SUB_ID=1719& f_ART_ID=265431
Survival Diet in Dangerous Times / Chemotherapy Saves Only 2~3% of Cancer Patients
Although chemotherapy is an extremely painful process, many children and adolescents with certain types of cancer—most commonly acute lymphoblastic leukemia and Hodgkin’s disease—have experienced remission. Several previously incurable childhood cancers can now be treated successfully.
However, regrettably, even many years later, only a few types of cancer can be successfully cured. Fundraising campaigns for cancer research continue to claim that we are "on the verge of a breakthrough," yet millions of cancer patients and their families have yet to see the benefits of this so-called breakthrough. The long-awaited major advancements in the war against cancer are always "just around the corner," but they never materialize.
Chemotherapy Saves Only 2–3% of Cancer Patients
Despite various treatments, the actual improvement in survival rates for most cancers remains very limited. One stark reality is that the outcomes of chemotherapy for most cancer patients are deeply disappointing. To kill all cancer cells in the human body, the required dose of chemotherapy would inevitably be toxic to the body—an unavoidable fact researchers must confront.
Over time, scientific journals have delivered one piece of bad news after another. In 1985, Dr. John Cairns, a professor at Harvard University’s School of Public Health, published a feature report in *Scientific American* on the war against cancer, stating that chemotherapy could only save 2 to 3% of cancer patients. Cairns noted that despite the medical community’s significant investment in chemotherapy research, this treatment could not cure any common cancer. The painful contrast between the initial high hopes for chemotherapy and the grim reality has become increasingly impossible to ignore.
Moreover, cancer deaths have been steadily rising. By the mid-1990s, the annual number of cancer deaths in the U.S. had exceeded 500,000. Even after adjusting for population growth and aging, cancer mortality rates continued to climb sharply. Most breakthroughs in chemotherapy were in treating childhood cancers. Yet by 1997, cancer had become the leading cause of disease-related death among children in the U.S. With cancer incidence rates rising and treatment progress lagging, prevention has become an urgent priority.
A Plant-Based Diet Can Prevent 60–70% of Cancers
In 1997, the American Institute for Cancer Research and its international affiliate, the World Cancer Research Fund, jointly published a groundbreaking multinational study, *Food, Nutrition, and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective*. The report analyzed over 4,500 research studies and involved more than 120 contributors and peer reviewers, including researchers from the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and the American Institute for Cancer Research. After its release, scientists worldwide responded enthusiastically, contributing to a new foundation for cancer prevention research and education.
The report concluded that by maintaining regular exercise, avoiding smoking, and—most importantly—following its primary dietary recommendation—"a diet centered on plant-based foods, rich in a variety of vegetables, fruits, and legumes, and low in processed starches"—60 to 70% of cancers could be prevented.This study was conducted by a panel of 15 top global experts in nutrition and cancer research, who reviewed over 200 controlled trials exploring the link between fruits and vegetables and cancer. Surprisingly, 78% of these trials showed that fruits and vegetables could prevent one or more types of cancer, while only 22% found no significant association. None of the trials indicated that consuming fruits and vegetables increased cancer risk.
T. Colin Campbell, former senior science advisor at the American Institute for Cancer Research and author of the bestselling book *The China Study*, directly linked diet to disease, stating, "Simply by adopting a plant-based diet, most cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and other degenerative diseases can be prevented." Vegetarians naturally consume more fruits and vegetables than meat-eaters and, as a result, tend to live longer. Even after controlling for factors like smoking, body mass index, and socioeconomic status, vegetarians still have a 25 to 50% lower risk of cancer compared to the general population.
Recognizing this, the American Cancer Society issued guidelines in 1996 urging people to reduce meat consumption to lower cancer rates. The American Meat Institute responded by saying, "These guidelines have gone too far, trying to dictate our food choices."
But no one was suggesting dictating food choices—the American Cancer Society was simply informing the public on how to reduce cancer risk. Facts are facts. Years later, *The British Medical Journal* reaffirmed: "A notable finding in research on diet and cancer is the growing recognition of certain foods' importance in reducing the risk of various cancers. If more people adopted a low-meat, high-fruit-and-vegetable diet, millions of cancer cases could be prevented annually."
Source: http:/ / mag. udn. com/ mag/ life/ ……_SUB_ID=1719& f_ART_ID=265431