by Jem Smith » 13 Jan 2024, 11:29 Some of these treatments are offered in good faith, by well meaning people who believe (mistakenly) that they are helping. Others are just scams. Many people get information about these fake treatments from TV and YouTube, and either don't bother to fact check it, or don't know how to.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9650234/. Some turn to health food shops, and are given misleading advice. https://www.skeptic.org.uk/2021/02/health-food-stores-a-danger-to-public-health/
One scam artist was an Australian woman named Belle Gibson, who claimed to have brain, blood, spleen and liver cancers, which she claimed to have cured through a special diet. She used these claims to promote her business, The Whole Pantry app. She also promoted the drinking of raw milk, anti vaccination and Gerson Therapy. She fraudulently collected charitable donations, and her claims about curing her cancer (which it turned out she never had in the first place) hurt a lot of people.
Here are a handful of the many bogus cancer treatments out there:
[*] Aromatherapy
It might help you relax, and perhaps improve general well being, but according to the American Cancer Society "Available scientific evidence does not support claims that aromatherapy is effective in preventing or treating cancer"
https://web.archive.org/web/20100905060445/http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/mindbodyandspirit/aromatherapy
[*]Homeopathy "While homeopathy appears to be safe, there is little if any reliable clinical evidence that homeopathic remedies are effective in treating cancer or that they can help with the side effects of cancer or its treatment."
https://web.archive.org/web/20130316003948/http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/pharmacologicalandbiologicaltreatment/homeopathy
Actually, homeopathy usually doesn't treat anything at all, since it is diluted so much that there is literally none of the active ingredient left in most remedies, and is not always safe. In 2010, hundreds of babies were harmed by a homeopathic teething remedy which contained Belladonna. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/hundreds-of-babies-harmed-by-homeopathic-remedies-families-say/
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[*]Emu Oil
Literally oil made from the body fat of an emu. It has been promoted as a treatment for cancer and arthritis, although there is no evidence that it treats anything.
[*]Gerson Therapy
Invented by Max Gerson in the USA. Gerson believed that diseases, including cancer, were caused by toxins (not specific toxins) and could be cured by drinking special juices every hour. There is no scientific evidence that it works, and it is very expensive for patients. Besides the expense, patients risk forgoing actual effective treatments, and some have suffered from serious illness or even death caused by the treatments.
Australian magazine editor and so-called "Wellness Warrior" Jessica Ainscough was diagnosed with cancer in her arm at the age of 22. Initially she was treated with chemo and her cancer was in remission, but when it returned a year later then she rejected further conventional treatments, opting for Gerson therapy instead. She reported on her blog that she had cured her cancer "naturally", and was earning a lot of money from her 'wellness warrior' brand, but then died of her cancer.
[*]Black Salve
I don't recommend Googling this one unless you want to see some pretty disgusting photos. Black salve is an ointment the patient puts on a skin cancer (or suspected skin cancer, since many people who use it don't get a proper diagnosis from a doctor first). The salve destroys the skin, leaving a scar. Patients using the salve have been left horrifyingly disfigured, such as a woman who used it on a mole on her nose, only to have the salve dissolve her whole nose, who turned out later not to have even had cancer.
[*]Urine therapy
Drinking your own, or other people's pee.Some people also inject it or bathe in it. It's been promoted as a cure for cancer, as well as many other ailments, despite the total lack of scientific evidence for this. https://web.archive.org/web/20140725232444/http://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/pharmacologicalandbiologicaltreatment/urotherapy
Things to consider
Alternative treatments might be fine for something minor like a sore throat, but when it comes to serious illness like cancer you need to evaluate the claims being made very carefully. Consider who is making the claim, and what their motive might be. Are they trying to sell you something? Do they have any qualifications in medicine? Are they specific about what the treatment does and how it is supposed to work? Is there any proof, or do they just rely on testimonials? If you search for them online, do you find any complaints or warnings? Is the treatment recommended by actual doctors or government health departments?
Websites
The website Quackwatch is one good place to look if you want to find out whether a particular alternative treatment has been found to be ineffective or a scam. https://quackwatch.org/.
Science Based Medicine is another great site for this. https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/
The Skeptic magazine online also has a collection of interesting articles about alternative medicine. https://www.skeptic.org.uk/category/alternative-medicine/page/2/.
If listening is more your thing than reading, the Skeptoid podcast also has many interesting episodes about related topics. https://skeptoid.com/episode_guide.php?cat=5
Have a healthy skepticism, and remember that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.