Issue 80 - March 2008 - Page 7
Pages in this month's issue:
- Postcard Image Virus Hoax
- Pay Up or I'll Kill You Scam Email
- Bacteria on Restaurant Lemon Slices Warning
- Water Bottle Car Fire Warning
- Fake Microsoft Critical Update
- Shark's Love for Man Hoax
- Cancer Info From Johns Hopkins Hoax Email
- Christian the Lion Email
- PayPal New Security Message Phishing Scam
- K-9 Congressional Medal of Honor Hoax
- Cell Phone Gun Warning
- 359lb Louisiana Grouper
- Ahmad Khaled Abu Rumman Make-A-Wish Foundation Hoax
- Barack Obama Endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan Hoax
- Telstra Free Directory Assistance Protest Email
Cancer Info From Johns Hopkins Hoax Email
Summary:Emailed collection of cancer related tips and information claims to originate from world-renowned medical research facility, Johns Hopkins.
Status:False
Example:(Submitted, March 2008)
Cancer info
*
AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (TRY
BEING THE KEY WORD) AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHN HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU
THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY.*
***
Cancer Update from John Hopkins:*
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show
up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When
doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their
bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the
cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's
lifetime.
3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be
destroyed and prevented from multiplying
and forming tumors.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional
deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and
including supplements will strengthen the
immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also
destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ
damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages
healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce
tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation
the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections
and complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become
resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not
feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
***
CANCER CELLS FEED ON:*
a.*** Sugar is a cancer-feeder*.
By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer
cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with
Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka
honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical
added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's amino or sea
salt.
b.*** Milk causes the body to produce mucus*, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract.*** Cancer feeds on mucus*.
By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soya milk cancer cells
are being starved.
c.*** Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment*.
A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little
chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics,
growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people
with cancer.
d.*** A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds,
nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment*.
About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices
provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed
and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance
growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells
try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts)
and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at
temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
e.*** Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine.*
Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-
it is best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and
heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
12.*** Meat protein is difficult to digest*
and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the
intestines become putrefied and leads to more toxic build-up.
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or
eating less meat it frees more
enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's
killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Floressence,Essiac,
anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.)
to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells.
Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed
cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or
unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and
positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor.
*Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and
acidic environment*. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to
relax and enjoy life.
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising
daily, and deep breathing help to
get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means
employed to destroy cancer cells.
***
PLEASE READ ON*
1. No plastic containers in microwave.
2. No water bottles in freezer.
3. No plastic wrap in microwave.
Johns Hopkins has already sent this out in its newsletters. This information
is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin
chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly
poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with
water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic.
Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital
was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins
and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food
in
the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods
that contain fat. He said that the
combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food
and ultimately into the cells of the body.
Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic
containers for heating food.
You get the same results, only without the dioxin.
So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be
removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but
you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass,
Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food
restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem
is one of the reasons. Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as
Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the
microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to
actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the* food. Cover food
with a paper towel instead.*
*This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life.***
Commentary:
This email contains a long collection of supposed cancer prevention and treatment tips. It also claims that freezing plastic containers or using them in a microwave oven can release cancer-causing dioxins into the container's contents. The "warning" about plastics and dioxins
also circulates without the cancer tips section and predates the above version by several years. Both the cancer tips and the plastics dioxin information is supposedly endorsed by Johns Hopkins, a world famous and highly respected medical research school based in the United States.
However, none of the claims in the message were published or in any way endorsed by Johns Hopkins. In fact, Johns Hopkins has released the following
statement denying any involvement:
Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
Office of Public Affairs
March 2007
EMAIL HOAX REGARDING CANCER
An email falsely attributed to Johns Hopkins describing properties of cancer cells and suggesting prevention strategies has begun circulating the Internet. Johns Hopkins did not publish the email, entitled "Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins," nor do we endorse its contents. For more information about cancer, please read the information on our web site or visit the National Cancer Institute's web site at www.cancer.gov.
Another hoax email that has been circulating since 2004 regarding plastic containers, bottles, wrap claiming that heat releases dioxins which cause cancer also was not published by Johns Hopkins. More information.
-JHM-
While some of the anti-cancer tips may contain elements of truth, the fact that they are not supported by Johns Hopkins as claimed in the message robs them of credibility. Many are anecdotal, oversimplified and not endorsed by the medical establishment. Moreover, the fact that they have been merged with false information about dioxins and plastics further erodes their credibility.
Rolf Halden of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has expertly
debunked the rumour linking plastic bottles to cancer. According to Halden the claim is an urban legend. He explains that:
Freezing actually works against the release of chemicals. Chemicals do not diffuse as readily in cold temperatures, which would limit chemical release if there were dioxins in plastic, and we don't think there are.
Experts also contradict the claim that using plastics in microwaves can cause dioxins to leech into the food.
According to Edward Machuga, Ph.D, of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), "The FDA has seen no evidence that plastic containers or films contain dioxins and knows of no reason why they would". The general consensus is that using plastic containers or plastic wrap in microwaves is not dangerous, so long as microwave safe plastics are used and manufacturer's guidelines are followed. The FDA article
does admit that substances in plastics can leach into food. However, the FDA does not consider this to be a significant risk to humans. The
FDA article maintains that:
The agency has assessed migration levels of substances added to regulated plastics and has found the levels to be well within the margin of safety based on information available to the agency.
Given that the information in this message is not endorsed by Johns Hopkins as claimed, passing on the message is likely to be counterproductive. Certainly, evidence suggests that lifestyle and diet are important factors with regard to cancer prevention and treatment. While some of the claims included in the message are certainly false, others may be at least partly true. However, cancer is a complex disease that takes many forms. It is very important that people have accurate and up-to-date information about cancer from reliable sources before making decisions or life style changes that may impact on their health. Therefore, people should seek information about cancer from trusted and credible sources such as the
National Cancer Institute or medical practitioners rather than believing the claims in a factually dubious email forward that includes outright lies about a supposed endorsement from Johns Hopkins.
In fact,
any health-related advice or warnings that circulate via email, blogs and forums should be checked for accuracy before being passed on to others.
References:
Plastics Cancer Link Email - Freezing Plastic Bottles - Plastics In the Microwave or Car
EMAIL HOAX REGARDING CANCER
Researcher Dispels Myth of Dioxins and Plastic Water Bottles
Plastics and the Microwave
National Cancer Institute
Pages in this month's issue:
- Postcard Image Virus Hoax
- Pay Up or I'll Kill You Scam Email
- Bacteria on Restaurant Lemon Slices Warning
- Water Bottle Car Fire Warning
- Fake Microsoft Critical Update
- Shark's Love for Man Hoax
- Cancer Info From Johns Hopkins Hoax Email
- Christian the Lion Email
- PayPal New Security Message Phishing Scam
- K-9 Congressional Medal of Honor Hoax
- Cell Phone Gun Warning
- 359lb Louisiana Grouper
- Ahmad Khaled Abu Rumman Make-A-Wish Foundation Hoax
- Barack Obama Endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan Hoax
- Telstra Free Directory Assistance Protest Email