GERSON NUTRITIONAL THERAPY
This paper first appeared in the Spring issue of the 'Skeptical Intelligencer', 2022, p4, along with a short piece from the same issue on the love affair of the then Prince Charles with alternative medicine.
Recently, HealthSense has been involved in a successful two-year campaign to end the charitable status of the Gerson Support Group. HealthSense (as HealthWatch) had complained to the Charity Commission that this organisation was actively promoting unproven treatment for cancer and other serious conditions. According to the Good Thinking website (note 1):
(Gerson Therapy) is just one of many treatments suggested as an alternative cancer cure. Those who offer Gerson Therapy claim it is a natural treatment that allows the body to heal itself of disease, including the ability to rid oneself of cancer. A Gerson treatment regime typically consists of the hourly consumption of organic or raw juices, alongside extreme use of supplements and a daily schedule of up to five coffee enemas. However, examining the ideas behind Gerson Therapy shows it to be an ineffective, costly and expensive distraction from the use of real medicine.
Details of the outcome of HealthSense's campaign were reported in Private Eye (No. 1,568, 4-17 March, 2022) in an article headed 'Quack Exit', followed by another ('Quack Down') in the 18-31 March issue. According to Private Eye:
The Gerson Support Group (GSG), a charity that has for years been promoting risky quack cancer cures, has finally admitted it had no evidence to support its bogus claims.
The magazine also reports that the group had over £350,000 in newly acquired assets and this income is being distributed amongst other charities. These include …
… the London-based 'Yes to Life', which by spooky coincidence on its "unconventional therapies page" lists none other than Gerson therapy, described as "probably the best-known alternative approach to cancer treatment".
Note
1. https://https://tinyurl.com/6vcaskkx
PRINCE CHARLES
The above developments will be sad news indeed for our future king. According to a report by the Guardian in 2004 (note 1):
Prince Charles has never made a secret of his love affair with alternative medicine. Now he has infuriated the medical profession by backing a controversial cancer treatment which involves taking daily coffee enemas and drinking litres of fruit juice instead of using drugs. Charles gave an enthusiastic endorsement last week to the Gerson Therapy, which eschews chemotherapy in favour of 13 fruit juices a day, coffee enemas and weekly injections of vitamins. Cancer specialists have told The Observer that there is no scientific basis for the theory and that it can be dangerous because patients who are seriously ill often come off their normal treatment to try something unproven which may leave them badly dehydrated.
How apposite then that the title of Edzard's Ernst's latest book is Charles the Alternative Prince:
Prince Charles has entertained a long-standing love affair with alternative medicine. This book describes his passion as it developed during the last 40 years. The Prince's beliefs, opinions, and ambitions are critically assessed against the background of the scientific evidence. (note 2).