The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. Thoreau
Any sufficiently
advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. Clarke
Update on my clinical trial
I’m still on the vaccine clinical trial. I am enjoying this
period of no side effects, no symptoms and a relatively peaceful time. My life
is still very much constrained by Thursdays at the hospital for the injections
and infusions as well as trying to get work done. Fortunately, I have a
flexible schedule. Unfortunately, I seem to be working all the time. This week,
I had a sick dog and that ate into my spare time so I was quite stressed
because of course, a sick pet takes priority of just about everything else.
xxx
Reading the highest rated (by impact factor) cancer journal.
Two articles of interest in breast cancer research. I’m just summarizing what I
read.
From CA : A Cancer Journal for Clinicians
Medical marijuana for cancer: The conclusion was that more
research is required. I followed the breast cancer references. My interest was
only in breast cancer so I skimmed the rest. Synthetic cannabinoids (component of marijuana
created in a lab) have been shown to have antitumor effects in breast cancer in
the lab and in mouse models. However, that was from early 2009 and the research
does not seem to have gone anywhere since then. One reason may be because other
research has shown that exposure to THC (the psychoactive component of
marijuana) inhibited anti-tumor immune responses in breast cancer in mice and
resulted in significant tumor growth and metastasis in some lines. (Comment: Something
else to bear in mind is that negative results are rarely published so if further
research showed nothing, we are unlikely to ever know.)
The problem with the research at this point is that
marijuana is not standard and newer strains of the drug have higher THC to CBD
ratios as the emphasis is on the psychoactive component. The lab and mouse
studies are usually not compared to anything or only compared to a placebo, not
standard treatment. So far, for breast cancer, there is no credible evidence
that marijuana is better than standard treatment for tumor inhibition, appetite
enhancement in cachexia, pain management or anti-emetics in nausea and vomiting
from chemo.
Global cancer statistics 2012: Breast cancer was the most
frequently diagnosed cancer and leading cause of death worldwide in women and
the leading cause of death in women in less developed countries. There were an
estimated 1.7 million cases and 521,900 deaths. In the world, breast cancer forms
25% of all cancer cases and is the cause of 15% of all cancer deaths in women.
About half of all breast cancer occurs in more developed countries and cause
about 38% of the deaths from breast cancer. The only area of the world that had
a higher incidence of breast cancer than North America was Western Europe with
96/100,000. North America had 91.6/100,000. This figure was not broken down further
by type of breast cancer.
Superstition and science
My childhood is the story of colonialism in Africa. I grew
up listening to the tales of magic and superstition from my nanny. My dreams
were vivid stories of ancestors and love and war. I ate mealiepap for
breakfast, umfino made with pumpkin leaves for lunch, and Umngqusho for dinner.
I understand superstition and my parents had deep respect
for the power of the sangoma (traditional healer). The sangoma is still
consulted by many even when conventional Western medicine is used. The sangoma
was also consulted to put a curse on someone or remove a curse, to heal a body
or spirit or find a cause for a broken one. I’ve known people to die because
they believed that a curse had been placed on them even when no xray or test
found anything wrong. I have also seen people die because they consulted a
sangoma instead of taking an antibiotic for pneumonia. I have seen the comfort
in crisis by the sangoma. When the sangoma threw the bones to tell the future, I
lived in fear of what the bones would tell.
We had a family feud that went back four generations and
with many accusations about sangoma curses. Every time misfortune would befall
one side of the family or other, it was attributed to a curse. I still cannot
look at a devil thorn without thinking about the “other” side of the family
accusing my father of cursing their home with devil thorns. Of course I only heard one side of the story.
Superstition is more than curses. It often reflects a lack
of trust. I have heard young men say they refuse to wear a condom because it is
a plot to limit procreation, not to prevent the spread of HIV. We have read the
recent stories about ebola that illustrated the mistrust
My experiences in Africa left me with a love of magical
things. (Don’t take me on in a Harry Potter quiz. You WILL go down.) However,
studying science has enabled me to put that part of my life in my fond memory
box.
Now, I will do things that my mother would never do. I will seat 13 at the table, walk under
ladders and break mirrors with abandon. It was a long road from running barefoot
in the mud in Africa, terrified of every superstition and tokoloshe (boogeyman
sent by the sangoma) to the world of running shoes and science and reason and
clear rules to live by. In one generation, with a lot of lucky breaks, my life and
the lives of my children were forever changed.
In my rather insulated world of science, we scoff at superstition
and quackery and I have a knee-jerk angry response to quacks. If people want to
pursue alternative treatments, there is no law against it. However, it may not
be harmless. If people make claims about it that are not true or screw up a
treatment by doing things on the side without telling their doctors then others
might die. They raise their children with a mistrust of science. The US is now
near the bottom of the developed world in terms of science literacy. Shame on
us. So many of these quack claims are not even possible and reading a basic
biology text would show them to be impossible. It is unfortunately unlikely
that those who believe them would read a basic biology text. I want to
emphasize that I am not talking about a handful of vitamin pills that your doctor
laughs at and that end up being flushed through your urine. The few dollars
spent probably don’t do more than minimal harm. I’m definitely not talking
about your weekly or daily yoga or meditation class. I’m talking about serious
and expensive cons that unscrupulous people use to part desperate people from
their children’s college fund. Vitamin supplements are for another day, as are
reiki, energy healers and other quack cures.
Science does not always get it right and I’m a huge skeptic
of any evidence that is gleaned through self-report. I know enough about human
behavior and memory to know that we don’t do what we say we do and we
definitely don’t remember what we did. However, when I blast another quack cure
and I get a stream of correspondence, I am alarmed that people try to persuade
me by offering superstition.
1.
Anecdotes are not evidence. Testimonials are
powerful persuasions but they are rubbish. Even if true (doubtful), it’s one
person’s experience. Please don’t tell me that it worked for you is the only
evidence that it works.
2.
Who wrote the article? The source of the claim
is what gives it credibility. I’m often sent articles written by people who are
making the preposterous claim.
3.
Quick check: Is the article from a credible journal?
What is the impact factor?
4.
Second check: Did you look for credible evidence
that it was not true?
5.
Newspapers sometimes offer accurate information
but often it is best to remember that they are in the business of selling news
and a perfectly accurate report may not be as sellable as one with selected highlights
and exaggerations.
6.
The supplement industry is a multi-billion (that
is not a typo) dollar industry. No one is getting poor on your supplements. Oh,
except for you, that is.
7.
Computer models of disease and treatment are of
limited use.
8.
Cures in the lab (in vitro) or in mouse models often
don’t go anywhere. An estimated 95% of drugs never make it to treatment.
Because something works in a petri dish does not mean it is an effective or
even safe treatment. A whole lot of chemicals kill cancer cells in the lab. Fewer
make it past mouse models and even fewer past clinical trials.
I know what it is like to be desperate. I cling to the hope
that a cure will come before I die. However, I have watched women spend every
last cent on looking for a miracle and dying broke and with heart-wrenching
regret that they wasted their last good years instead of living in the joy of
experience.
My plea would be to donate those dollars to find a cure. Please
donate directly to research. It is our only hope. There are many options. I
like this one because they do research on breast cancer in young women.
