People seem to be really hung up on chemotherapy for curing their cancers. According to Cure Search this kind of treatment uses drugs to treat a disease. Most people know it for cancer treatments. But does it work?

Recently I was talking to a longtime friend who informed me that his Dad is going through it now to treat a rare form of bone cancer. He told me that there has been no improvement in his condition. In fact, he appears to be getting worse. He wants his Dad to stop this because he is convinced that the drugs are actually killing him.

Does his belief have any basis in fact?

Doctors have known for quite some time that a cancer can come back in a more virulent form within 5 years. This is why they keep their patients monitored and test them every six months. According to Doctor Andrew Weil medical schools are teaching their doctors-in-training to expect a recurrence.

How can this happen if the treatment destroys the cancer cells?

Most people believe that if they undergo chemotherapy the cancer cells in their bodies are going to be destroyed. Once this happens they will be cancer-free.

As a result they don’t understand why it can suddenly show up worse in 5 years. Not only that, it can appear in other parts of the body as well.

My Dad had throat cancer in 1980. It was treated and believed to be cured. He continued to work and have a productive life. Then in 1985 it reappeared. This time doctors found that it had spread through out his body. Now, there was nothing they could do. He was gone within 6 months.

Why if it was cured did it come back? An illustration:

Most probably not all of the cancer cells had been destroyed.

We have all seen those antibacterial soaps that are advertized on television and the radio. Some of us may have actually used them. Have you noticed how the containers say they will destroy 99.9% of the bacteria on your body when they are used?

This means that one percent is still on your body. Please note that there are two kinds of bacteria. Some are good and beneficial. The others can be very destructive. What is left is the strongest. Remember Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest”? Because they are stronger they can mutate and become even more powerful…super germs.

It is the same thing with the cancer cells. If any are missed they become stronger. When they reproduce they can migrate to other parts of the body. Once there they must mutate to survive in that area.

They now become much harder to eradicate.

But are people cured if the cancer doesn’t come back within 5 years?

Possibly, but frankly 5 years is not enough time to prove that someone is cancer-free. It can come back anytime and anywhere in the body and will probably be much worse.

My Mother is a breast cancer survivor. It was found in 1989 and taken care of. After that she had tests done every 6 months for 5 years; it never came back. After seeing how my Dad’s cancer recurred she has made sure that she continues to get tested every 6 months. It has now been over 20 years.

But can the chemotherapy actually play a part in making it worse?

The best case, if you can call it that, is that the drugs only misses some cancer cells. In reality though they do much more than kill the bad cells. Like the anti-bacterial soaps they do not distinguish between good and bad. They also destroy cells and bacteria that help us survive

That is why doctors advise their cancer patients to improve their diets. There are foods that can prompt the regrowth of the good bacteria and cells to help keep them healthy.

What is my friend going to do if he doesn’t want his Dad to continue the chemotherapy?

He has been talking about using alternative medicine. Some of these appear to work; others don’t. There is a claim by The Health Wize Report that chemo has only a 4 percent success rate while some alternative therapies are much more successful.

He has been researching other methods because he is convinced that there is something out there that will help his Dad much more than the chemo has. Something that won’t kill him.

On a side note, I have talked about my clients that I take care of as a health care assistant. One girl has multiple sclerosis very badly and has been in a wheel chair for quite some time. Her doctor started her on chemotherapy in the belief that it will help her situation improve.

On the contrary all we’ve noticed is her health declining at a much more rapid rate. Another of her doctors has convinced her to get off of these drugs and looked into alternative methods of saving her life. I have heard that she has been slowing taking herself off of them.

So what am I saying here?

• Don’t believe that chemotherapy is definitely going to cure you. Do a lot of research to make sure it is right for you.
• 5 years is not necessarily enough time to determine if you are cancer-free.
• Understand that not only may the chemo drugs miss cancer cells but they may also contribute to a decline in your health.
• If you are going to subject your body to this kind of therapy make sure you are eating properly.
• If the chemo doesn’t work, or even if you aren’t sure that you want to use it, research the alternatives out there to find the ones that really may work. Some may just be proverbial “snake oil” junk.

The most important thing is to not give up. If it doesn’t work find something else. But whatever you choose, whether it is chemo or an alternative, make sure it has a good success rate and it is right for your body.

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