Cancer: Is it possible to prevent it?

The person who takes medicine must recover twice; once from the disease and once from the drug.” — Sir William Osler, M.D., co-founder of Johns Hopkins Hospital and School of Medicine

by Ben Ta’ati — 

Many of us have read newspaper articles and heard claims on TV and radio reporting new “wonder cures” in the war on cancer. Victory against this terrible disease was, according to those reports, just around the corner. Why is it then that so many people are still dying from this disease?

Modern researchers have for many years been exploring cancer at a cost of billions of dollars. The sad conclusion is that no cancer that was incurable 25 years ago is curable today. At the beginning of the 20th century, statistics gave us one in 500 chances of getting cancer. Today, according to the American Cancer Society “one in two males and one in three females will develop cancer in their lifetime.”

Modern approach and progress on cancer

According to the American Cancer Society and mainstream medicine, cancer is a group of more than 100 diseases, and it develops when cells in a certain part of the body begin to grow out of control. The exact cause of cancer remains a mystery. We know that certain changes in our cells can cause cancer to start, but we don’t yet know exactly how this happens.

The three main, modern approaches to treat cancer are surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. In cases of surgery, the entire cancerous area is removed, and the procedure is often followed by chemotherapy or radiation.

Chemotherapy poisons the rapidly growing cancer cells, but it also destroys rapidly growing healthy cells in the bone marrow. Similarly, radiation, while destroying cancer cells, also burns, scars and damages healthy tissues and organs. Furthermore, the significant side-effect of these two procedures can be the recurrence of cancer.

You may have heard that 40 to 50 percent of all cancer cases today are cured by mainstream medicine or that most cancers, when caught early, are curable. Unfortunately, what you may not know is what is meant by the term “cure.” According to Ralph W. Moss, Ph.D., and Lorraine Day, M.D., current cancer authorities, such as the American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute and the FDA, define “cure” as being alive five years after diagnosis. This official definition does not mean “cancer-free,” nor does it mean “healed of your disease,” which is likely what most people think the word cure means.

Detecting cancer

According to Russell L. Blaylock, M.D., annual mammograms increase the risk of breast cancer by two percent a year. So, over 10 years, the risk will have increased 20 percent. Dr. John W. Gofman, an authority on the health effects of ionizing radiation, states that since mammographic screening was introduced, the incidence of a form of breast cancer called ductal carcinoma (DCIS) has increased by 328 percent. There are supposed preventions for other sorts of cancer such as the HPV vaccination, which can have its own side-effects, including paralysis and death.

Cancer statistics from Trends of Cancer Deaths in America

• Total number of cancer cases in the world in 2007 was 12,332,300.
• Americans suffering from cancer comprise 12 percent of that population.
• Cancer is the second leading cause of death among Americans.
• 1,444,920 Americans were diagnosed with cancer in 2007.
• 559,650 Americans died from cancer in 2007.

The homeopathic approach

Hippocrates wrote: “It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease a person has. Disease is eliminated through remedies able to produce similar symptoms.” This is the principle of disease in homeopathy. From a homeopathic perspective, cancer is seen not as a disease but as a symptom — a symptom of an underlying condition.

Homeopaths thus search for a cause in trying to find the appropriate remedy. For example, physical trauma to the breast, which leads to cancer points to a specific remedy. Another cause would be an underlying predisposition to illness and the like. The problem with surgery, radiation or chemotherapy is that the cancer does not go away. The body that created the cancer in the first place will often recreate it, and usually the recurrence is more aggressive.

For instance, if a woman has had cancer in one breast, why should cancer reappear in the other breast? Unfortunately, this happens all too frequently. The recurrence is due to three reasons: a direct side effect of chemotherapy or radiation, the weakening of the immune system as a result of chemotherapy and radiation, and failing to address the root cause. Cancer does not just happen. It is a complex symptom, the result of physical trauma and/or emotional stress over a long period of time.

The best way to avoid cancer is through prevention — a preventative treatment that addresses the whole person and puts the body into a state of balance. Many people consider homeopathy the best form of prevention available. No wonder that homeopathy is the second most widespread form of alternative care in the world today.

Good homeopathic treatment can strengthen your immune system, remove the physical problems that have been bothering you for years, thereby improving your mental outlook on life and increasing your energy levels.

Ben Ta’ati, H.M.A., M.S.A., is a faculty member and practitioner of Classical Homeopathy at the American Medical College of Homeopathy. He is a member of the National Center for Homeopathy. 480-626-8485, [email protected] or www.MyArizonaHomeopath.com.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 27, Number 3, June/July 2008.