Max Gerson

Max Gerson (18 October 1881 – 8 March 1959) was a German physician who developed the Gerson Therapy, an alternative dietary therapy, which he claimed could cure cancer and most chronic, degenerative diseases. Gerson described his approach in the book A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases. However, when Gerson's claims were independently evaluated by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), it was found that Gerson's records lacked the basic information necessary to systematically evaluate his claims. The NCI concluded that Gerson's data showed no benefit from his treatment.^[1] The therapy is considered scientifically unsupported and potentially hazardous.^[2][3]

In Europe

Gerson was born in Wongrowitz (Wągrowiec, now in Poland) on October 18, 1881. In 1909, he graduated from the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg. He began practicing medicine at age 28 in Breslau, later specializing in internal medicine and nerve diseases in Bielefeld.^[4] By 1927, Gerson was specializing in the treatment of tuberculosis, developing the Gerson-Sauerbrach-Hermannsdorfer diet, claiming it was a major advance in the treatment of tuberculosis.^[4] Initially, he used his therapy as a treatment for migraine headaches and tuberculosis. In 1928, he began to use it as a treatment for cancer.^[5] He left Germany in 1933 and emigrated first to Vienna, where he worked in the West End Sanatorium. Gerson spent two years in Vienna, then in 1935 he went to France, associating with a clinic near Paris before moving to London in 1936. Shortly after that, he moved to the United States where he settled in New York City.^[4]

In the United States

Gerson emigrated to the United States in 1936, passed his medical board examination and became a U.S. citizen in 1942.^[4]

In 1946, Senator Claude Pepper (D–FL) summoned Gerson to testify about his cancer therapy before a Congressional Subcommittee hearing to appropriate $100 million for a cancer research center in which Gerson was expected to play a major part. Gerson presented to the U.S. Congress what he claimed were five healed terminal cancer patients who testified to recovering from incurable disease, but he got little media attention and the appropriations bill (SB 8947) died in the Senate.^{[citation needed]}

In the U.S., Gerson applied his dietary therapy to several cancer patients, claiming good results, but colleagues found his methodology and claims unconvincing. Proponents of the Gerson Therapy assert that a far-ranging conspiracy headed by the medical establishment prevented Gerson from publishing proof that his therapy worked.^{[6][unreliable source?]} In 1958, Gerson published a book in which he claimed to have cured 50 terminal cancer patients: A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases. Gerson's medical license in New York was suspended in 1958.^[7] Gerson died March 8, 1959 of pneumonia.^[4][8]

Gerson Therapy

Initially, Gerson used his therapy as a treatment for migraine headaches and tuberculosis. In 1928, he began to use it as a treatment for cancer, its best known application.^[5]

Gerson Therapy is based on the belief that toxic substances accumulate in the body, causing disease. In particular, Gerson's supporters believe that chemical contaminants in food reduce its potassium content while elevating its sodium content. Additional sodium from food processing and cooking adds more sodium, increasing this purported imbalance. The belief holds that this imbalance changes cellular metabolism, causing cancer. Gerson Therapy seeks to reduce sodium and increase potassium in patients cells through a fruit and vegetable diet, coffee enemas and various injections, enzymes and nutritional supplements.^[9]

Gerson's therapy required the patient to consume a vegetarian diet and to drink a 250-milliliter (8-ounce) glass of fresh organic juices every waking hour. Coffee and castor oil enemas were among several types of prescribed enemas, and some patients were given hydrogen peroxide orally and rectally. Rectal ozone was also applied. Dietary supplements include vitamin C and iodine. The diet prohibited the drinking of water and consumption of berries and nuts, as well as use of aluminium vessels or utensils.^[10]

Initially, patients were required to drink several glasses of raw calf liver extract daily. Following an outbreak of Campylobacter infection linked to the Gerson clinic's extract, which sickened and killed several of the clinic's patients,^[11] carrot juice was substituted.

Animal products and fats and oils were excluded, except for the raw calf liver extract and flax-seed oil, as were supposed sources of toxicity, including tobacco, salt, alcohol, fluorides, pesticides, food additives, and pharmaceuticals. Foods were to be fresh, organically grown and unprocessed. The therapy claimed to reverse any ill effects of exposure to environmental toxins over the course of 6 to 18 months, and Gerson believed it would be effective against most chronic diseases, including tuberculosis, most forms of advanced cancer, arthritis (both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis), and diabetes.

Gerson's claims of success attracted some high-profile patients, as well as other alternative medicine practitioners. Gerson's daughter, Charlotte Gerson, continued to promote the therapy, founding the "Gerson Institute" in 1977.

Evidence

Gerson's therapy has not been independently tested or subjected to randomized controlled trials, and thus is illegal to market in the United States.^[1] The Gerson Institute promotes the therapy by citing patient testimonials and other anecdotal evidence.^[12] In his 1958 book, Gerson cited the "Results of 50 Cases"; however, the U.S. National Cancer Institute reviewed these 50 cases and was unable to find any evidence that Gerson's claims were accurate.^[3] Gerson Institute staff published a case series in the alternative medical literature; however, the series suffered from significant methodological flaws, and no independent entity has been able to reproduce the Gerson Institute's claims.^[3]

Anecdotal evidence collected outside the Gerson Institute suggests that the Therapy is not effective against cancer. When a group of 13 patients sickened by elements of the Gerson Therapy were evaluated in hospitals in San Diego in the early 1980s, all 13 were found to still have active cancer.^[11] The Gerson Institute's claimed "cure rates" have been questioned; an investigation by Quackwatch found that the Institute's claims of cure were based not on actual documentation of survival, but on "a combination of the doctor's estimate that the departing patient has a 'reasonable chance of surviving', plus feelings that the Institute staff have about the status of people who call in."^[13] In 1994, a study published in the alternative medical literature described 18 patients treated for cancer with the Gerson Therapy. Their median survival from treatment was 9 months. Five years after receiving the Gerson treatment, 17 of the 18 patients had died of their cancer, while the one surviving patient had active non-Hodgkin lymphoma.^[14]

The American Cancer Society reports that "[t]here is no reliable scientific evidence that Gerson therapy is effective in treating cancer, and the principles behind it are not widely accepted by the medical community. It is not approved for use in the United States."^[2] In 1947, the National Cancer Institute reviewed 10 "cures" submitted by Gerson; however, all of the patients were receiving standard anticancer treatment simultaneously, making it impossible to determine what effect, if any, was due to Gerson's therapy.^[15] A review of the Gerson Therapy by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center concluded: "If proponents of such therapies wish them to be evaluated scientifically and considered valid adjuvant treatments, they must provide extensive records (more than simple survival rates) and conduct controlled, prospective studies as evidence."^[3] In 1947 and 1959, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) reviewed the cases of a total of 60 patients treated by Dr. Gerson. The NCI found that the available information did not prove the regimen had benefit.

Safety concerns

Gerson therapy can lead to several significant health problems. Serious illness and death have occurred as a direct result of some portions of the treatment, including severe electrolyte imbalances. Continued use of enemas may weaken the colon's normal function, causing or worsening constipation and colitis. Other complications have included dehydration, serious infections and severe bleeding.^[2]

The therapy may be especially hazardous to pregnant or breast-feeding women.^[2]

Coffee enemas have contributed to the deaths of at least three people in the United States. Coffee enemas "can cause colitis (inflammation of the bowel), fluid and electrolyte imbalances, and in some cases septicaemia."^[16] The recommended diet may not be nutritionally adequate.^[17] The diet has been blamed for the deaths of patients who substituted it for standard medical care.^[18]

Relying on the therapy alone while avoiding or delaying conventional medical care for cancer has serious health consequences.^[2]

The Beautiful Truth

In 2008, a documentary film advocating Gerson therapy was released titled The Beautiful Truth. In the film, a teenage boy, who is also the filmmaker's son, searching for a cure for cancer, finds people who know about Gerson therapy. The film was released on November 18, 2008, and was shown at the Roxie Cinema in San Francisco on January 9, 2009. The New York Times called the film an infomercial.^[19] The film had a U.S. total gross of $15,387 playing in one theater.^[20]

See also

• Chelation therapy
• Coffee enema

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Gerson Therapy: History". National Cancer Institute. February 26, 2010. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/gerson/HealthProfessional/page4. Retrieved March 31, 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Gerson Therapy". American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_5_3x_Gerson_therapy.asp. Retrieved April 22, 2009. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Overview of the Gerson Regimen". Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. March 18, 2009. http://www.mskcc.org/mskcc/html/69233.cfm. Retrieved April 22, 2009. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e} "Unproven methods of cancer management. Gerson method of treatment for cancer". CA Cancer J Clin 23 (5): 314–7. 1973. doi:10.3322/canjclin.23.5.314. PMID 4202045. 
5. ^ ^{a b} American Cancer Society. "Metabolic Therapy". Accessed 22 March 2011.
6. ^ "Doctor Yourself". Doctor Yourself. http://www.doctoryourself.com/bib_gerson.html. Retrieved 2010-01-25. 
7. ^ Hess, David J. (2004). The politics of healing: histories of alternative medicine in twentieth-century North America. Routledge. pp. 222. ISBN 0415933390. http://books.google.com/?id=4xzTLvaWSmkC&pg=PA222&dq=%22max+gerson%22+1959#v=onepage&q=%22max%20gerson%22%201959&f=false. 
8. ^ New York Times, 9 March 1959, p 29. "Dr. Max Gerson, 77, Cancer Specialist".
9. ^ American Cancer Society. "Gerson Therapy". Accessed 22 March 2011.
10. ^ Weitzman S (1998). "Alternative Nutritional Cancer Therapies". International Journal of Cancer Supplement II: 69–72. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-0215(1998)78:11+<69::AID-IJC20>3.0.CO;2-7. PMID 9876483. 
11. ^ ^{a b} Centers for Disease Control (CDC) (June 1981). "Campylobacter sepsis associated with "nutritional therapy"--California". MMWR Morb. Mortal. Wkly. Rep. 30 (24): 294–5. PMID 6789105. 
12. ^ "The Gerson Institute — Alternative Cancer Treatment". http://www.gerson.org/g_therapy/case_studies.asp. 
13. ^ Lowell, James (February 1986). "Background History of the Gerson Clinic". Nutrition Forum Newsletter. Quackwatch. http://cancertreatmentwatch.org/reports/gerson.shtml. Retrieved April 22, 2009. 
14. ^ Austin S, Dale EB, DeKadt S (1994). "Long-term follow-up of cancer patients using Contreras, Hoxsey and Gerson therapies". Journal of Naturopathic Medicine 5 (1): 74–76. 
15. ^ "Gerson Therapy Overview". National Cancer Institute. September 6, 2007. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/cam/gerson/patient. Retrieved April 22, 2009. 
16. ^ Hills, Ben. "Fake healers. Why Australia's $1 billion-a-year alternative medicine industry is ineffective and out of control.". Medical Mayhem. http://benhills.com/articles/articles/MED06a.html. Retrieved 2008-03-06. "Kefford is particularly concerned about cancer patients persuaded to undergo the much-hyped U.S. Gerson diet program, which involves the use of ground coffee enemas, which can cause colitis (inflammation of the bowel), fluid and electrolyte imbalances, and in some cases septicaemia. The U.S. FDA has warned against this regime, which is known to have caused at least three deaths." 
17. ^ Clinic Practice Guidelines, page 196.^{[dead link]}
18. ^ Snowbeck, Christopher (April 9, 1999). "Cancer Therapy Pained Her Family... And Didn't Work". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19990409davis4.asp. Retrieved April 22, 2009. 
19. ^ Lee, Nathan, The Evils of the Medical-Industrial Complex, New York Times, November 14, 2008
20. ^ Box Office Mojo

Bibliography

• Max Gerson MD, A Cancer Therapy: Results of 50 Cases (San Diego: The Gerson Institute, 1990)
• Charlotte Gerson, The Gerson Therapy (New York: Kensington Publishing, NYC, 2001)
• Howard Straus, Dr. Max Gerson: Healing the Hopeless (Kingston, Ontario, Canada: Quarry Books, 2001)
• S. J. Haught, Censured for Curing Cancer: the American Experience of Dr. Max Gerson (New York: Station Hill Press, 1991)
• Patricia Spain Ward, PhD., History of the Gerson Therapy by Dr. Ward under contract to the Office of Technology Assessment
• Ferdinand Sauerbruch, Master Surgeon (a.k.a. A Surgeon's Life) [Das War Mein Leben] (London: André Deutsch, 1953 and Munich: Kindler, 1951) reprinted since

External links

• Questionable Cancer Therapies, from Quackwatch (Includes section on Gerson Therapy with references)
• Vickers AJ, Cassileth BR (2008). "Living proof and the pseudoscience of alternative cancer treatments". J Soc Integr Oncol 6 (1): 37–40. PMC 2630257. PMID 18302909. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pmcentrez&artid=2630257. 
• The Beautiful Truth at the Internet Movie Database

Persondata
Name	Gerson, Max
Alternative names
Short description	German physician, originator of Gerson Therapy
Date of birth	1881-10-18
Place of birth	Wągrowiec, Poland
Date of death	1959-03-08
Place of death